A few days later the Shepherd, sitting at midday among his sheep in the shade of some great trees, looked up and saw the huge, slouching figure of Craven Fear coming across the fields toward him. Never before had this man approached the Shepherd of his own free will; but now he came, hesitatingly it is true, but with a certain dogged determination toward the one from whom many a time he had fled—the one, who, in the end, had been the cause of his imprisonment.

The Shepherd sat quietly, looking steadily at him as he stumbled forward, his eyes downcast, his face and hands twitching nervously. Finally he stood before the one he had never dared to look in the face. Then he bent his huge form and knelt in the dust in silence. Neither spoke a word.

At last Craven lifted his eyes and blurted out, “Sir, if you will, you can make me different.”

“I will indeed,” said the Shepherd in a strong, clear voice. “Your name now is Craven Fear, but you shall be called Fearless Witness, and you shall be my messenger and suffer many things for my sake.”

When Craven Fear left the place under the trees where he had entered the Shepherd’s service he went straight back to the cottage and sought out his brother-in-law. He found him in the little backyard drearily chopping wood.

“Moody,” said Craven Fear, going up to him, “Come with me.”

“Where to?” asked Moody, looking at him as though he were a ghost.

“To the Shepherd,” said Craven Fear simply. “He can do everything for you that needs doing.”

“The Shepherd!” gasped Moody, and cringed away backward. “What do you mean, Craven? I shan’t go to him. Why, the first thing that he would say is that I must give up the drink—and I can’t. I can’t live without the stuff. And what’s more, I can’t stand this life in the cottage without it any longer.”

“That’s just what I mean,” said Craven. “You can’t manage without him any longer and neither can I. Come with me. I’ll take you straight to him. I know where he is now at this moment.”

“He won’t be able to do anything for me,” wailed Moody miserably, cringing further away from his brother. “It’s no good my listening to you, Craven. You are stronger and he may be able to help you, but I am too weak for him to be able to do anything with.”

“Well, you don’t need to listen to me,” said Craven patiently but doggedly. “Just come and see him for yourself, and hear what he says about it.” And with that he put out one of his huge hands and laid it firmly on the shoulder of his trembling brother-in-law.