FOUNDER OF HIS RACE ^y 



CHAPTER IX. 

 true's first hard work, and how he accomplished it. 



upon a hill at Randolph Centre perched a little store 

 where the farmers gathered in cold weather to warm 

 themselves with Medford rum, a common enough drink 

 in those days to express lavish opinions as to political 

 affairs of the young nation, so lately separated from her 

 Mother Country, or to discuss more intimate local busi- 

 ness. 



Master Morgan drank little, being more inclined to 

 quiet study than sociability, but his way led past the 

 store and he often stopped to hear the news. There 

 were no newspapers in those days, and all news came by 

 letter or word-of-mouth of the stage-drivers. 



Whilst waiting outside for his owner True made 

 pleasant acquaintances among the horses who also stood 

 awaiting their riders. 



A grey mare, very old, very wise and very strong in 

 her convictions, whom he often met, tol 1 him many 

 mane-raising stories of Indian days — so recentlv passed 

 through — and the more his wide-set ears pointed and 

 the more his dark prominent eyes grew eager the better 

 the old pioneer liked it. 



One of her strange tales was how she discovered her 

 master. Experience Davis, after he returned from his 

 two years' captivity with the Indians. 



One day, she told True, as she stood quietly near 

 Davis' hut, nibbling lazily among the stumps and stones 



