830 HOME A^U 



sort of contempt for it, it never failed to 

 anger her. In the wrath of the moment 

 she began to climb the fence, eager to in- 

 flict punishment. Wherenpon the boy 

 st^irted off on a trot that soon took him" 

 out of sight around a bend in the road. 

 Having reached this place of safety, he 

 crawled under some elderberry bushes, and 

 lay there on his back, kicking up his heels 

 and trying to think up a plan by which 

 he could get the start of Miss Betty. 



Presently he saw her cross the pasture 

 lot. "She^s goin' over to Hart's,^' he de- 

 cided. "I know what V\\ do. I'll let 

 down the bars between the pasture 'n the 

 field Old Bruisers in. He'll be sure to 

 see it, an' come through, 'n' when she 

 comes back he'll see her, 'n' then there'll 

 be fun, or my name ain't Joe Perkins. 

 An' you bet I'm goin' to see the fun ! I'll 

 hide in the ol' barn till it's over with, 'n' 

 then slip out afore John comes with the 

 horses." 



"Old Bruiser" was a very surly, cross old 

 sheep who never let slip an opportunity of 

 venting his spite against man, woman or 

 child who came in his way. As it was 

 not safe to allow him the freedom of the 

 regular pasture he was shut up in a small 

 enclosure by himself. This restriction 

 he resented very much, and he was always 

 trying to get back into the pasture. 



Joe Perkins waited until Miss Betty had 

 disappeared over the hill. Then he scaled 

 the pasture fence and crept along it until 

 he came to the bars between the two en- 

 closures. It was the work of but a mo- 

 ment to loosen the bars and let them drop 

 from their places. They fell to the ground 

 with a clatter that attracted the attention 

 of Old Bruiser, who gave a snort of satis- 

 faction, and promptly made a dash • for 

 the pasture he had been banished from. 

 Joe crept along the fence without being 

 discovered by the sheep, until he had 

 reached the barn. Into this he disap- 

 peared. It was easy work to climb to the 

 loft, where from an old window he could 

 look out upon the entire pasture and see 

 all that was going on in it. 



FLOWERS 



''Til get even with you now, ol' Betty 

 Peabody," chuckled the lad. "I hope oi' 

 Bruiser'll knock her over, 'n' whack her 

 till she's black 'n' blue. My, don't I wish 

 some o' the other boys was here to see the 

 fun, too!" 



It seemed to J oe, in his impatience, that 

 he waited for hours before Miss Bett^^'s 

 sunbonnet appeared over the brow of the 

 pasture hill. Old Bruiser saw it about 

 as soon as he did, and immediately pre- 

 pared for battle by shaking his head and 

 giving several snorts of defiant rage, after 

 which he set oft on a run towards Miss 

 Betty, who discovered him just in time 

 to save herself by climbing a big stone 

 heap. 



"Oh, oh, oh !" cried the boy in the barn 

 loft, rolling over and over in the enjoy- 

 ment of Miss Betty's predicament, and 

 doubling himself up as if green-apple colic 

 had possession of him. "Oh, don't I wish 

 the boys was here to see her! Oh, hi, hi, 

 ol' Miss Peabody, hbw d'ye like it up there 

 on the stone pile? How long d'ye 'spose 

 ye'll have to stay there ? John won't come 

 for two or three hours yet, an' OF 

 Bruiser'll stay right by ye' 'n' don't ye 

 fergit it !" ^ 



From the summit of the stone heap Miss- 

 Betty took a deliberate survey of the situ- 

 ation. 



"Somebody's let the bars down," she 

 decided, " 'n' they was let down a-purpose 

 to let the ol' sheep out. Whoever let 'em 

 down knew I'd gone through the pasture, 

 'n' they calcilated on his takin' me by 

 s'prise when I come back. I'll bet any- 

 thing 'twas that Perkins good-for-nothin'. 

 If 'twas him he's 'round som'ers now, fer 

 he wouldn't miss the fun fer anything." 



Miss Betty sat down on a big stone and 

 waited further developments. Old Bruiser 

 kept up a steady march about the heap, 

 shaking his head ferociously, and snorting 

 threateningly every time she made a move. 

 "Get down from your perch, if you dare !'^ 

 he seemed to say. "I'd like to show you 

 what my horns were made for !" 



(To ie continued.) 



