3 
« 
the horses, and weed, and help round gen¬ 
erally. Come, what do you say ?’’ 
“Homes!’’ said the mite eagerly. “Oh! 
I love horses, sir! We used to live in the 
country when I was a little chap, and 
father, he owned a horse. I used to ride 
him, too! Go into the country ? Golly! 
I guess so! 
“Well, well, give your papers to that boy, 
then; he has sold most of his. That’s right! 
Come along, ngw; I can’t take such a look¬ 
ing object home with me. Why, Maria 
wouldn’t let us in!” 
The mite was fitted with a decent suit of 
clothes, and finally arrived at the place 
where there was plenty to eat; as happy as 
a king, and ready to worship the kind old 
gentleman who had rescued Hm from diis 
miserable street life. 
He was called Harvey, now. and soon 
ceased to deserve his old appellation. He 
did willingly whatever was given him to 
do, but his chief delight was the sleek span 
of bays, “Kitty” and “Jess,” who occupied 
comfortable quarters in the large barn. He 
watered, and fed, and groomed them un¬ 
tiringly, and when, sitting beside his new 
master in the new spring wagon, he was 
allowed to hold the reins, his cup of bliss 
was full. 
But one day trouble appeared in the 
shape of a rough looking fellow who ap¬ 
plied to Mr. Adams for work. It was in 
the busy season, and he was engaged 
without much attention to references. For 
a time all went well, but Mr. Adams soon 
discovered that his new hand had a trick 
of beating the horses, kicking the cows, and 
otherwise maltreating the animals about 
the place; and, being a humane man, he 
dismissed him with a lecture upon the 
wickedness and cruelty of his conduct. 
Then the tarm-hand became abusive, and 
swore with many oaths that he would have 
revenge. Mrs. Adams was alarmed, and 
begged her husband to have him arrested, 
but he only laughed at her fears, saying,— 
“Oh, such talk never amounts to any¬ 
thing.” 
One lovely afternoon in autumn, Harvey 
had a half-holiday, and he wandered along 
through the woods, drinking in the beauty 
around him; the gorgeous tints of the 
trees, the purple and gold of the wood flow¬ 
ers at his feet, and the dreamy blue of the 
sky that showed in patches overhead 
Suddenly a sound of voices broke the 
stillness, and Harvey, peering through the 
pushes, saw the man who had worked for 
Mr. Adams, and another man, still more 
rough and evil-looking, lounging upon the 
ground with their guns beside them. They 
had built a fire, at which they were cook¬ 
ing some rabbits; and as Harvey looked, 
a dog bounded through the undergrowth 
and crouched down beside it. 
The men were discussing a plan which 
made Harvey’s heart beat so violent, as he 
listened, that he shivered with dread, lest 
they should hear it and discover his retreat, 
They had decided to burn Mr. Adams’ 
barn, in which was stored all the fruits of 
his long summer’s work, and the ex-farm- 
hand added contemptuously,— 
“Since he sets such a store by his horsed 
and cows, it will be a mercy to send them 
where they will never be ‘abused’ any 
more. There’s ‘Brindle’ and ‘Daisy’ and 
‘Rose,’ besides the horses, that ought to 
keep Mr. Adams’ family in roasted meat 
for some time to come.” 
The two wretches burst into a loud laugh 
at this sally, and at the same time the 
branch upon which Harvey was leaning, 
broke with a sharp crack. Even then he 
* 
might have escaped, but the dog sprang up 
with a low growl, and a moment after the 
unfortunate lad was held a most unwilling 
prisoner. 
Poor Harvey! as he looked up into the 
cruel, scowling faces of his captors, he felt 
that he could hope for very little mercy 
from men who could deliberately plan to 
roast alive unoffending, helpless animals. 
Indeed, the rougher of the two men advised 
that Harvey should be put out of the way 
at once. 
“He’s heard what we've had to say, and 
he’ll blab. ‘Dead men,’ and young ones, 
too, ‘tell no tales,’” he added, grimly, see¬ 
ing that his companion hesitated. 
“But we might swing for it,” objected the, 
farm-hand. “See, here, young one, we’ll 
let you go scot free, on one condition. You 
hold up your hand and swear like I show 
vou, not to breathe a word of what you’ve 
