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He called the dog to heel, and began to walk with his long loping stride to the collecting-pen in the corner. Out in the middle of the paddock there was a positive babble of talk.
     
    "Good morning!" said Babe. "I do hope I find you all well, and not too distressed by yesterday's experience?" and immediately it seemed that every sheep had something to say to him.
     
    "Bless his heart!" they cried, and, "Dear little soul!" and, "Hullo, Babe!" and, "Nice to see you again!" and then there was a rasping cough and the sound of Ma's hoarse tones.
     
    "What's up then, young un?" she croaked. "What be you doing here instead of that wolf?"
     
    Although Babe wanted, literally, to keep on the right side of the sheep, his loyalty to his foster-mother made him say in a rather hurt voice, "She's not a wolf. She's a sheep-dog."
     
    "Oh all right then," said Ma, "sheep-dog, if you must have it. What dost want, then?"
     
    Babe looked at the army of long sad faces.
     
    "I want to be a sheep-pig," he said.
     
    "Ha ha!" bleated a big lamb standing next to Ma. "Ha ha ha-a-a-a-a!"
     
    "Bide quiet!" said Ma sharply, swinging her head to give the lamb a thumping butt in the side. "That ain't nothing to laugh at."
     
    Raising her voice, she addressed the flock.
     
    "Listen to me, all you ewes," she said, "and lambs too. This young chap was kind to me, like I told you, when I were poorly. And I told him, if he was to ask me to go somewhere or do something, politely, like he would, why, I'd be only too delighted. We ain't stupid, I told him, all we do want is to be treated right, and we'm as bright as the next beast, we are."
     
    "We are!" chorused the flock. "We are! We are! We a-a-a-a-a-are!"
     
    "Right then," said Ma. "What shall us do, Babe?"
     
    Babe looked across towards Farmer Hogget, who had opened the gate of the collecting-pen and now stood leaning on his crook, Fly at his feet. The pen was in the left bottom corner of the paddock, and so Babe expected, and at that moment got, the command "Come by, Pig!" to send him left and so behind the sheep and thus turn them down towards the corner.
     
    He cleared his throat. "If I might ask a great favour of you," he said hurriedly, "could you all please be kind enough to walk down to that gate where the farmer is standing, and to go through it? Take your time, please, there's absolutely no rush."
     
    A look of pure contentment passed over the faces of the flock, and with one accord they turned and walked across the paddock, Babe a few paces in their rear. Sedately they walked, and steadily, over to the corner, through the gate, into the pen, and then stood quietly waiting. No one broke ranks or tried to slip away, no one pushed or shoved, there was no noise or fuss. From the oldest to the youngest, they went in like lambs.
     
    Then at last a gentle murmur broke out as everyone in different ways quietly expressed their pleasure.
     
    "Babe!" said Fly to the pig. "That was quite beautifully done, dear!"
     
    "Thank you so much!" said Babe to the sheep. "You did that so nicely!"
     
    "Ta!" said the sheep. "Ta! Ta! Ta-a-a-a-a-a! 'Tis a pleasure to work for such a little gennulman!" And Ma added, "You'll make a wunnerful sheep-pig, young un, or my name's not Ma-a-a-a-a-a."
     
    As for Farmer Hogget, he heard none of this, so wrapped up was he in his own thoughts. He's as good as a dog, he told himself excitedly, he's better than a dog, than any dog! I wonder ...!
     
    "Good Pig," he said.
     
    Then he uncrossed his fingers and closed the gate.
     
     
     

Chapter 7
     
    "What's trials?"
     
    Every day after that, of course, Babe went the rounds with Farmer Hogget and Fly. At first the farmer worried about using the pig to herd the sheep, not because it was a strange and unusual thing to do which people might laugh at--he did not care about that--but because he was afraid it might upset Fly and put her nose out of joint. However it did not seem to do so.
     
    He could have spared himself the