THE EARTH'S BOUNTY 



had been kept a profound secret, and they had 

 smuggled her into the barn the night before), 

 my dear husband said: 



" I am awfully glad, Mater, that we could 

 not find a useful horse, for it would not have 

 called forth one-half this amount of pleasure 

 and pride." 



Which clearly proved that their judgment 

 had been overruled by the will of our genii. 



The significance of the horse being a mare 

 escaped us, until one day early in March, when 

 I drove to the depot quite fast, to catch the 



mail, and met Mr. E there. He came up, 



patted Dolly, and said casually: 



" Rather fast driving, my little lady." 



Pride prompted my answer. " Oh, Dolly 

 can do better than that." 



" Yes, yes, but I'd slow down from now. It 

 will be safer." 



"Why, what do you mean?" I commenced, 

 when Mr. E burst out laughing. 



"Ah, I caught you, Mrs. Farmer! It's a 

 surprise, isn't it? There should be a pretty 



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