Robin was vexed to the inmost recesses of his tiny soul.He stared stupidly after the sheep for half a minute，then gave the order，“Wully，fetch them in.”After this mental effort he sat down，lit his pipe，and taking out his knitting began work on a half-finished sock.
To Wully the voice of Robin was the voice of God.Away he ran in 374 different directions，and headed off and rounded up the 374 different wanderers，and brought them back to the ferry-house before Robin，who was stolidly watching the process，had toed off his sock.
Finally Wully—not Robin—gave the sign that all were in.The old shepherd proceeded to count them—370，371，372，373.
“Wully，”he said reproachfully，“thar no‘a’here.Thur’s anither.”And Wully，stung with shame，bounded off to scour the whole city for the missing one.He was not long gone when a small boy pointed out to Robin that the sheep were all there，the whole 374.Now Robin was in a quandary.His order was to hasten on to Yorkshire，and yet he knew that Wully’s pride would prevent his coming back without another sheep，even if he had to steal it.Such things had happened before，and resulted in embarrassing complications.What should he do There wasfive shillings a week at stake.Wully was a good dog，it was a pity to lose him，but then，his orders from the master;and again，if Wully stole an extra sheep to make up the number，then what—in a foreign land too He decided to abandon Wully，and push on alone with the sheep.And how he fared no one knows or cares.
Meanwhile，Wully careered through miles of streets hunting in vain for his lost sheep.All day he searched，and at night，famished and worn out，he sneaked shamefacedly back to the ferry，only to find that master and sheep had gone.His sorrow was pitiful to see.He ran about whimpering，then took the ferryboat across to the other side，and searched everywhere for Robin.He returned to South Shields and searched there，and spent the rest of the night seeking for his wretched idol.The next day he continued his search，he crossed and recrossed the river many times.He watched and smelt everyone that came over，and with significant shrewdness he sought unceasingly in the neighboring taverns for his master.The next day he set to work systematically to smell everyone that might cross the ferry.