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The sun was shining brightly, and the birds sang sweetly in the trees,
and the crickets chirped just as merrily as if this great trouble had not
come to Little Boy Blue to make him sad.
But he went bravely to his
work, and for several hours he watched carefully; and the men at work in
the fields, and the Squire's daughter, who sat embroidering upon the porch
of the great house, heard often the sound of his horn as he called the
straying sheep to his side.
But he had not slept the whole night,
and he was tired with his long watch at his mother's bedside, and so in
spite of himself the lashes would droop occasionally over his blue eyes,
for he was only a child, and children feel the loss of sleep more than
older people.
Still, Little Boy Blue had no intention of sleeping
while he was on duty, and bravely fought against the drowsiness that was
creeping over him. The sun shone very hot that day, and he walked to
the shady side of a big haystack and sat down upon the ground, leaning his
back against the stack.
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