378 CHAMP. 



home the horse was gone, and as his team was the 

 only one from the village, they were forced to either 

 stay all night or walk home in the rain. Lem insisted 

 on remaining where they were, but Mary would not 

 hear of it. Then Lem said he would stay whether 

 she did or not, so Mary started for home through the 

 rain. She was a sight when she reached home, and 

 was so done up that she did not get out of bed for a 

 week. As for Lem, he came in on a farmer's wagon 

 next morning, and when he learned what Champ had 

 done, it did not improve matters any. As soon as 

 Mary was up and about he called on her and tried to 

 square himself, but she would not see him, and sent 

 him word by her mother that she would never speak 

 to him again. This pleased Helen, so I have been 

 told, but it made Lem madder than a hornet, while 

 the whole village had a good laugh over it. 



"I never said anything, but every few days I 

 heard that Lem was saying I had bested him in the 

 trade ; that I should have told him Champ would not 

 stand when hitched, and all that sort of thing. When 

 the note was due, he refused to pay it, and at the 

 same time told the cashier of the bank that he never 

 would pay it unless I went to law. This stuck in my 

 crop, but I grinned and bore it, while all of the time 

 I missed Champ more than I cared to tell. I was 

 just aching to have a drive behind him, while from 

 the day Champ went away Mary Pickle stopped send- 

 ing or bringing over a piece of sugar or a sweetie. 

 For a time I did not miss that, but it began to wear 

 on me and I felt uncomfortable. Then I noticed that 

 I did not meet Mary on the street as often as when I 

 had Champ, and when I did meet her she usually had 



