When the sheep 's owner arrives with three policemen to arrest the worker for taking the sheep ( a crime punishable by hanging ) , the worker drowns himself in a small watering hole . The worker 's ghost stays to haunt the site . When the sheep 's ostensible owner arrives with three police officers to arrest the worker for the theft ( a crime punishable by hanging ) , the worker commits suicide by drowning himself in the nearby watering hole , and then goes on to haunt the site .