Why does Edward feel so content and peaceful with the calf?

The young Prince Edward has been roughing it on the streets with a ragtag band of juvenile delinquents. They've been going round causing trouble, terrorizing the neighborhood, and thieving merrily as they go. Edward's not cut out for life as a beggar, and he takes the first opportunity to escape from the other boys. But Edward's frightened that the beggar gang will track him down and exact a terrible revenge.
Edward's understandably jumpy as he tries to get some much-needed sleep in a barn. Just as he's dozing off beneath a mound of horse-blankets, he feels someone or something touching him. Edward's absolutely terrified; he thinks it might be one of the beggar boys come to give him a good hiding, or worse. However, Edward's mightily relieved to learn that it's just a little calf, dozing away contentedly nearby. Edward feels warm and comfortable with the animal, not least because he's been so lonely and so friendless for such a long time. Unlike the members of the beggar gang he was forced to mix with, the calf has a soft heart and a gentle spirit.