The Strange Message in the Parchment Read Online Free

hillside. By now all the sheep seemed disturbed. They began to move around, and a few started to run. Had the dog caused this, or was there some other reason?
    Far down the hillside the girls could hear both Rover’s bark and the sheep’s loud bleats.
    Junie looked worried. “Now I’m sure there’s trouble of some kind down there. We’d better find out what it is—and fast!”

CHAPTER IV
    Eezy Shaw
     
     
     
    NANCY followed her friend as fast as she could. The sheep were everywhere. Some were standing, others were lying down. In her haste to keep up with Junie, Nancy decided to hurdle some of the animals. Once, while jumping across an old sheep that was lying down, she stepped on the tiny tail of a younger one. Immediately there was a loud baaaaa.
    “I’m sorry,” Nancy called back, as she sped on.
    When the girls neared the lower end of the hill, they noticed two men running as fast as they could toward a road at the foot.
    “They must have caused the disturbance,” Nancy called. She asked, “Do you know who they are?”
    “No,” Junie replied. “Maybe they were trying to rustle our sheep.”
    “That’s bad,” Nancy remarked.
    The men were too far ahead for the girls to get a good look at them. Junie said she still did not recognize either one of them. A moment later the two intruders jumped into a waiting car that roared off.
    Rover had been after the men, but could only scare them away. When he realized the girls were coming down, he turned and trotted up to their side.
    “Good dog!” they both said, and Junie hugged him affectionately. As the three climbed the hill, Nancy asked, “I wonder where Eezy is?”
    “I do, too,” Junie replied. “It’s not like him to leave his station, especially if there’s any trouble and the sheep are disturbed.”
    As soon as the girls reached the top of the hill where Eezy’s cabin stood, they began to call the shepherd’s name. When there was no answer, Junie went inside the house. He was not there.
    Puzzled, she said to Nancy, “I can’t imagine what happened.” She leaned down to the dog and said, “Rover, where is your master? Go find Eezy. Take us to Eezy.”
    The beautiful animal cocked his head. Then, as if understanding what was wanted of him, he sniffed along the ground, apparently trying to pick up the scent of Eezy’s footprints. Presently he disappeared into a small copse of trees. Meanwhile, the girls looked all around the cabin and some distance beyond it. There was no sign of Eezy, nor any clue as to what had become of him.
    “This is really strange,” Junie remarked. “Eezy has never left this place since he became a shepherd here.”
    At this moment Rover began to bark wildly. Nancy and Junie followed the sound, which led them to an area in the copse of trees. The faithful dog was standing beside his master, who lay stretched out on the ground, unconscious!
    “Oh!” the girls cried out and knelt down next to him.
    The shepherd was just beginning to revive. He mumbled and presently Nancy caught the words, “I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away.” 1
    Nancy looked at her friend for an explanation. Junie said that Eezy was a very religious man, who often quoted the Bible to explain the philosophy behind some situation. “I think he’s blaming himself, perhaps for letting some of the sheep be rustled.”
    “It looks as if you and I got here just in time,” Nancy said.
    Junie nodded and gave the stricken man some first aid to help him regain full consciousness. He did not respond at once, so Junie said, “Nancy, you try it.”
    Nancy did and in a short while the shepherd opened his eyes wide, then smiled wanly. Finally, with their help, he got to his feet.
    “This is no kind of reception at all,” the slender, elderly man said. “And, Junie, I see you’ve brought a beautiful young lady to meet me.”
    “Yes, this is my friend Nancy Drew,” Junie told him.
    “Sorry I was sleepin’ when