Violet Jacob > Irresolute Catherine

10 IRRESOLUTE CATHERINE
hundred and sixty little cloven hoofs set
their mark on the earthy places over which
they passed.
Heber Moorhouse, pressing hard on their
heels, shouted now and again, swinging the
rope’s end he carried and leaning far out
of his saddle as he drove the stragglers in.
The rough - coated, weedy - looking pony
under him cantered on, stubborn in face
and obedient in limb to the rider’s hand
and balance. ‘ Black Heber ’ could bring
in his sheep as easily without his dog as
with him.
It was nothing in his colouring that had
earned him the title by which some spoke
of him, for his hair was of the same in¬
definite shade as that of many of his
neighbours, and his eyes were rather light
than dark. But they had a fire, on occasion,
that suggested dark things even to the
ardent and sober Baptist community to
which he belonged. Though he was a
young man he looked older than his years