A strange comradeship had come to be between the thoughtful gentleman, who cared for the sheep, and the ignorant, sorely afflicted, and nameless backwoods boy.

The two were always together, out on the hillside and in the little glens and valleys, during the day with the sheep, or at the ranch in the Hollow, when the flock was safely folded and the night slipped quietly over the timbered ridges.

Mr.Howitt had fixed a bunk in his cabin for the boy, so that he could come and go at will.

Often the shepherd awoke in the morning to find that some time during the night his strange friend had come in from his roving.

Again, after seeing the boy soundly sleeping, the shepherd would arise in the morning to find the bunk empty.
Sammy Lane, too, had fallen under the charm of the man with the white hair and poet's face.
Sammy was not so often at the Matthews place after Ollie had gone to the city.