Then, Jacob, you can sit down and smoke your pipe, 'cos you'll have some one to do your work for you." Martin stood quietly listening to all this, not quite understanding the old man's kind intentions.

Then old Jacob, promising to give him something to eat, pulled him up on to his horse, and started home at a gallop.
Soon they arrived at a mud hovel, thatched with rushes, the roof sloping down so low that one could almost step on to it; it was surrounded with a ditch, and had a potato patch and a sheep enclosure; for old Jacob was a shepherd, and had a flock of sheep.

There were several big dogs, and when Martin got down from the horse, they began jumping round him, barking with delight, as if they knew him, half-smothering him with their rough caresses.

Jacob led him into the hut, which looked extremely dirty and neglected, and had only one room.

In the corners against the walls were piles of sheep-skins that had a strong and rather unpleasant smell: the thatch above was covered with dusty cobwebs, hanging like old rags, and the clay floor was littered with bones, sticks, and other rubbish.