185G.] Kate Osborne. 



235 



suppose — I saw him there." (Twas the same ' four-legged critter' that 

 Quirk had sent him to drive from the field !) - He says you chased 

 the animal with a ' sharp stick ; ' but of course he'll have to prove that 

 you killed it, before he can get judgment." And with these wise 

 and encouraging words the constable donned his seal-skin cap and 

 departed. 



Now that the nature of the charge was known, the farmer's ' Old 

 Yirginny ' blood boiled up, and he said — he never swore, never — but 

 he smVi— "zangs, he wouldn't give Bob Pelton 99 cents for his 

 damages!" Ju>t then Kate came tripping through the hall, which 

 echoed her swelling notes of song. Hearing her, her father called to 

 her; in a moment she was at his side. "Kate, old Bob Pelton has 

 sued me about that dead horse ; I've only three days to get ready for 

 trial, and as our village has not yet risen to the dignity of having cither 

 a barber or a lawyer, to shave people, I must go to the county°seat to 

 get some attorney to aid me in the suit, for I s'pose Bob will have at 

 least three on his side, as he seems to be in league with the lawyers and 



*^^ •" '^^^ i^ame of the other partner in the firm the Colonel left 



for inference, and told Kate to donn her riding equipments, and accom- 

 pany him. The horses were soon ready, the journey soon made, a lawyer 

 soon found, and Kate having bought some new music, etc., they returned 

 to Grassy Grove about sundown. Soon after his return the Colonel com- 

 municated to Dick Quirk the trouble he was in, and the steps he had 

 taken for defense. Mr. Quirk remained silent; the affair seemed too 

 much out of his line for him to venture advice. 



That evening, musia was suggested, and Kate and Mr. Quirk went into 

 the parlor to sing the new duetts. But the music was not familiar; it 

 therefore had to be studied, and this, of course, accounted for the long 

 'interludes' of silence {^) that the outsiders observed in the enter- 

 tainment ! 



Two days after, being the day before the tiial, Kate remarked to her 

 father that she had an errand to the county town, and with his permis- 

 sion would nde over that afternoon. " Certainly, my dear drl, certainly • 

 and here's something to foot the bill with. But be careful, Kate, and 

 keep a steady rein on ' Sir Harry ; ' he's becoming quite coltish, lately." 

 '' iSever fear, father," she archly replied, '' I'll keep ' Harry ' straight ! " 

 \\ hat ' Harry ' did she mean - the horse ' Harry,' the man ' Harry ' or 

 fche 'Old Harry ' ? But soon she was seen bounding away on her horse 

 • Sir Harry.' Arrived in town she rode direot to the office of her father's 

 lawyer, politely informed him that an arrangement of affairs had been 

 made so that his attendance on the following day would not be nece^^sarv 



