But Jack neither laughed nor wished for the honour; hitherto he had always managed to escape going round with the shearers, but this year he saw he must go, since he had not the heart to throw a shadow over his father’s innocent joy by refusing; so he said with the best grace he could, “Very well, father, I’ll go shearing, but Fairy can’t be left out in the cold, I shall have to stay with her during the supper.” “No, you need not, we will take it by turns; I can stop with Fairy sometimes,” said Charlie, a remark by no means calculated to soothe Jack, whose love and jealousy had grown greatly in the last few years; but Mrs. Shelley wisely stopped the discussion by remarking that there was plenty of time to settle the details, as the sheep-washing was not begun yet. “It begins to-morrow though; Jack and I are off with half our flock at daybreak to-morrow. Charlie, you must follow the rest for a day or two; I must have Jack with me to-morrow,” said the shepherd. “And I shall come too. If mother can’t take me, I shall get the Leslies to come. I always go to see our sheep washed every year,” said Fairy. Accordingly, early next morning the shepherd and his son were up at dawn, driving their sheep to the brook in which the sheep-washing took place. For some days previously, preparations had been made for this washing, which lasts two or three weeks, as all the sheep for miles round are brought to this spot. These preparations consisted of pens made of hurdles by the side of the river for the sheep; in the stream itself, opposite to each other, were erected two rough pulpits or deal boxes, in which stand the sheep-washers. When Jack and his father arrived, it was so early that no one was there, not even the washers; but at ten o’clock, when Mrs. Shelley and Fairy went, the scene was a most lively one. Hundreds of sheep were in the pens, some white and clean, their agonies over; others still dirty, with their tortures to come. On the neighbouring bridge stood or leant every child in the village, thoroughly enjoying the sight. On the roadside were some stragglers of all grades, watching the performance, one or two farmers on horseback who had a lively interest in the washing of their flocks, and on the banks several shepherds, among them Jack and his father, all armed with large, toothless wooden rakes, with which they push the sheep about, holding them under water when necessary, and steering them from pulpit to pulpit.