` You shall not , ' cried the Black Gallows Bird ; ` they will hear you . ' ' I do n't care , ' answered the Shifty Lad . ' I never spend Hallowe'en yet without cracking a nut ' ; and he cracked one . ` Some one is cracking nuts up there , ' said one of the merry-makers in the farmhouse . ` Come quickly , and we will see who it is . ' He spoke loudly , and the Black Gallows Bird heard , and ran out of the loft , dragging the big leather hide after him which the Shifty Lad had sewed to his coat . ` He is stealing my hide ! ' shouted the farmer , and they all darted after him ; but he was too swift for them , and at last he managed to tear the hide from his coat , and then he flew like a hare till he reached his old hiding-place . But all this took a long time , and meanwhile the Shifty Lad got down from the loft , and searched the house till he found the chest with the gold and silver in it , concealed behind a load of straw and covered with loaves of bread and a great cheese . The Shifty Lad slung the money bags round his shoulders and took the bread and the cheese under his arm , then set out quietly for the Black Rogue 's house . ` Here you are at last , you villain ! ' cried his master in great wrath . ` But I will be revenged on you . ' ` It is all right , ' replied the Shifty Lad calmly . ' I have brought what you wanted ' ; and he laid the things he was carrying down on the ground . ` Ah ! you are the better thief , ' said the Black Rogue 's wife ; and the Black Rogue added : ` Yes , it is you who are the clever boy ' ; and they divided the spoil and the Black Gallows Bird had one half and the Shifty Lad the other half . A few weeks after that the Black Gallows Bird had news of a wedding that was to be held near the town ; and the bridegroom had many friends and everybody sent him a present . Now a rich farmer who lived up near the moor thought that nothing was so useful to a young couple when they first began to keep house as a fine fat sheep , so he bade his shepherd go off to the mountain where the flock were feeding , and bring him back the best he could find . And the shepherd chose out the largest and fattest of the sheep and the one with the whitest fleece ; then he tied its feet together and put it across his shoulder , for he had a long way to go .
That day , the Shifty Lad happened to be wandering over the XXXXX , when he saw the man with the sheep on his shoulder walking along the road which led past the Black Rogue 's house .
Bird Hallowe'en Rogue first fleece hiding-place merry-makers moor right weeks