Page 469 - Bible History

442 CHRIST'S TEACHING MIRA ES A CHURCH
SHEPH DS WATCHING T Em FLOCKS
know his voice and when he called, they would come scampering to his feet.
At night he would lead them to the sheepfold. This was a kind of yard, surrounded by a stone wall. There was a narrow gate through which the sheep would enter while the shepherd stood and counted them as they went in, in order to be sure that none had been lost. Once they were inside, the shepherd would close the gate and bar it. Then, stretching out on the ground before it, he would go to sleep. But even in slumber he would be watching; and let there be so much as the sound of a strange footstep or the noise of a provd­ ing animal, and at once he would be wide-awake, ready to protect his sheep.
Sometimes the shepherd did not own the sheep, but had hired himself out to take care of them for some­ one else. In such a case he might not be very careful of his woolly charges. Maybe he would neglect them and in time of danger run away, because the sheep did