While the Secret One stayed with the shepherds, he learned many things. He learned to climb nimbly up the rocks in his bare feet, looking for lost sheep. He learned the different voices of the sheep, so that he could distinguish one from another, even far off. And finally he learned to carve and whittle a crook from alder wood so that he could rescue the young lambs from the crumbling chalk cliffs.

At night he listened to tales of the mountains and of the four winds and of the great ocean beyond. And he listened to the haunting tune played by Giles. And as the days and nights of summer passed, he began to notice things for the first time. Things that he hadn't noticed before.

One day when he was stretched out under a tree listening to the sheep bells in the distance, he was aware of a white bird perched above his head. It was a bird he knew well for he had often shared his lunch of bread and cheese with it. "I have a secret for you, Secret One," said the white bird. "What is that my friend?" said the Secret One in surprise for he had never heard the white bird speak before. "Listen to my song," said the white bird and he began to sing. "Remember my song because a time will come when it will save your life." Now the Secret One had learned that it is better to be prepared for the worst. So he memorized the white bird's song and thanked it for its advice.

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