With her aid Geoffrey soon had a cart and cart-horse, and taking with him a bottle of brandy, which May sent down, her kindly heart thinking poor Jabez, with his sprained ankle, would require something, set forth to fetch the shepherd, who was indeed in a "parlous case." He found him without difficulty, for Jabez saw him coming, and shouted directions in a voice famous for its power. But getting him into the cart was another thing, and many applications to the bottle were necessary before he was safely up. As they jogged over the hill, Geoffrey inquired how so experienced a man, who could cross the downs with his head in a bag, ever came to get lost. "Why," said the shepherd, solemnly shaking his head, "it wur the Ould Un hisself, it wur. He led I by th' nause round and round--a' bides in thuck place wur them gurt stwoanes be. Mebbe a' caddled [bothered] you and miss too?" "Why do you think it was the Dev--, what you call the Old One?" "Cos 'twur he," dogmatically. "Cos Job, he run away, and nothing but the Ould Un would a' froughtened he." "Job?" "He's my dog. I be as dry as a gicks,"--the withered stem of a plant. He took another swig at the bottle, and, much encouraged thereby, lifted up his ditty in praise of shepherding: "The shepherd he stood on the side of the hill, And he looked main cold and peaked; Says, `If it wurn't for the sheep and the pore shepherd The warld would be starved and naked!'" "You seem tolerably philosophic," said Geoffrey, "for a man with a sprained ankle; but you have not told me yet how you got lost." "Aw, bailee, thuck thur 'Gustus, sent me to Ilsley market wi' dree-score yeows and lambs, zum on en wur doubles as vine as ever you seed--and I wur a coming whoam at night, doan'tee zee? I never had but one quart anyhow and mebbe a nip a' summat else. It wur th' Ould Un and no mistake. But then he goes off--drat th' varmint, I'll warm his jacket when a' shows his face agen. I looks about for he, and misses the path, and then I wur took by the nause and drawed round and round!" (With his finger he described circles in the air to illustrate his meaning.) "Bime-by--whop! I falls into a vlint-pit. The nettles did bite my face terrable! I bided there a main bit and then crawls up to the vuzz [furze]. My droat wur zo thick I couldn't holler; and Lor! how the stars did go spinning round! I seed a fire arter a bit by them stwoanes at th' Cave, and thenks I thuck be He this time, you--" "So you took us for the Ould Un?" "Wull, I axes your pardin. A'wuver I couldn't crawl no furder, zo I lays down in the vuzz and thenks a' Jacob and puts my head on a sarsen stwoan--" "And slept till we found you?" "Eez; this be featish tackle," meaning the liquor was good.