THE "MAD SHEEP" 19
from a friend, Roget the ox pulled it home, and they stored it
away in the little shed behind the house.
What little time John and his sons had from the haymaking
seemed to go all too rapidly in a variety of tasks. The work which
he had promised to do in the east field with his neighbours took
up the Thursday afternoon, and besides this they were hard at
work on an " assart" or clearing they were making near the edge
of the great wood. The prior had granted this to John only the
previous autumn; and, although it was but three acres in extent,
the work of grubbing up the furze and briars and cleaning the
land so that they could sow it this coming autumn seemed end-
less. Richard spent all the time he could at this, for he hoped
one day to make this plot the site of a home for himself, since he
was now fully grown and eager to marry Johanna, the daughter
of William Sutton, an old friend of his father.
The other two days of work on the lord's meadow passed much
like the first, except that there was no ale provided at the second
boon, for it was a "dry-reap", but they had to work only till
midday. The last boon, however, surpassed all the rest, for not
only was there ale again, but other pleasures as well. As the last
load was carried from the field the hayward loosed a sheep in their
midst. All watched this poor frightened beast with interest, for
if it remained quietly grazing they could claim it for a feast of
their own, but if it wandered out of the field they lost it, and it
remained the lord's property. As they looked on, restraining the
children from noise or sudden movement, the sheep gazed around
and then began to eat what it could find. Little did it think how
in lingering over this Esau's mess it had sealed its fate.
All was not yet over, however. Indeed, many thought the best
was yet to come, and John and the other householders next
moved off to a part of the field where the reeve stood by a very
large cock of hay. Everyone knew what was to be done, and no
one wished to be the first to start. At last the reeve called on
Robert Day to begin, and with a sly look at some of his neigh-
bours he gathered together a great mass of hay, and rapidly