FOUNDER OF HIS RACE 21 



Seeing in a moment that the colt was preoccupied, the 

 lamb whisked away to wait for the usual whinney of in- 

 vitation. 



The Tory hut showed clear in the morning sunlight 

 and, absently, a moment later the colt glanced that way. 

 To his astonishment he saw the youngest boy, a ne'er- 

 do-well who had stolen pumpkins and apples from his 

 neighbors all his life, unloose a lean, gaunt dog and 

 start towards the pasture. 



This young fiend was, oddly enough, named William 

 Howe, quite enough in itself to set an American by 

 the ears ! True recalled in a flash all his mother had 

 told him of the British General of the same name.* 



"How, now," he thought, "why comes the young rob- 

 ber this way?" 



Black Baby continued to frisk about, trying to divert 

 True from his serious mood. He sprang into the air and 

 tossed his little head, cutting all manner of capers, but 

 the colt did not seem inclined to join him in play. 



William Howe climbed to the top of the stone fence 

 and, balancing himself adroitly, gazed around as if to 

 locate any possible mischief. 



The dog sprang nimbly over and, yelping, ran after 

 an innocent rabbit that bounded across the pasture like 

 an India rubber ball, his short pennant making an al- 

 most unbroken line of white over the green grass as he 

 fled before his enemy. Luckily he reached the opposite 

 fence in time and darted behind the protecting stones ; 

 baffled, the dog stood barking, furiously. 



Soon the boy put his fingers in his lips and whistled, 

 shrilly. 



Time and again True had warned Black Baby of this 

 very dog, but the lamb, having known only love and 



* In 1776, Sir William Howe commanded an army of 55,000 

 men in an effort to put down "the wicked rebellion." 



