4 
heard, or by—! you’ll not live long enough 
to say your prayers.” He picked up his 
gun as he spoke, and held the muzzle 
against Harvey’s breast. 
Poor Harvey! A sickening feeling of fear 
and faintness seemed to stifle his breathing, 
and arrest his very heart beats. The cruel, 
determined faces of the men, seemed like 
demons, and he looked around the lonely 
woods, then at the gun, and then he took 
the awful oath which the men bade him 
repeat, that he would not reveal anything 
they had said. 
He was at last allowed to go, and the 
farm-hand called after him,— 
“I say, young one, you can tell when the 
deed is done, and don’t you forget it. I 
want the old man to know who his good 
luck comes from;” and he added to his 
companion, “No danger of his giving us 
away, he’s got no more pluck than a chick¬ 
en, and he’s scar’t most to death.” 
When Harvey reached home, supper was 
laid in the large kitchen, Mollie, the “help” 
was turning flannel cakes, Mrs. Adams 
was pouring the tea, and Mr. Adams turn¬ 
ed from the sink where he had been wash¬ 
ing his hands, and spoke with a genial 
smile,— 
“Well, Harvey, my lad, did you have a 
good time? Had a nice walk, eh?’’ 
“Yes sir,—no sir,—part of the time,” 
stammered poor Harvey, with such a mis¬ 
erable face that the good farmer stared in 
astonishment, and Mrs. Adams noting his 
pale face and trembling limbs, exclaimed,— 
“Bless the boy! he looks fit to drop! 
What is the matter, child?” 
“Nothing,” sobbed Harvey, and bursting 
into tears he rushed from them all, up to 
his own little'room under the eaves. 
Pretty soon Mrs. Adams bustled up with^ 
a bowl of hot tea and some nicely buttered 
toast, and when she found that he could 
not eat, she bathed his aching head, tucked 
him into bed, and even left a motherly kiss 
on his cheek. 
That kiss made Harvey feel ten times 
more miserable than before. How kind 
they were to him! How could he let them 
be wronged out of so much property ? Then 
the horses! ah! that was the bitterest of all? 
“Kitty” and “Jess,” whom he had loved 
and petted, and who also knew him and 
would whinney whenever he entered the 
barn. He had taught them to bow their 
heads when he gave them an apple or any¬ 
thing especially nice, and he was going to 
let, them suffer a horrible death! Great 
beads of sweat started on his forehead, and 
he sprang from his bed intending to run 
down stairs and reveal .the whole wick¬ 
ed plot, but he stopped before a picture 
of Christ blessing little children, which 
good Mrs. Adams had hung in his room. 
The moonlight fell broadly upon it. Had 
not Mrs. Adams said that God hated liars, 
and had he not solemnly sworn to keep 
silence ? 
Harvey never forgot the terrible hour 
that followed. He heard the family retire, 
and waited fearfully for any sound outside. 
At last he knelt and prayed earnestly that 
God should show him some way out of his 
trouble. Then he went to the window and 
looked out at the great barn. 
Suddenly a thought flashed into his mind. 
He stole softly down stairs, seized the tin 
horn which Mrs. Adams used to call her 
husband to dinner, and letting himself out, 
ran swiftly across t lie moonlit space between 
the house and barn. He stopped a moment 
to think, and then climbed up over the 
mows and hid himself in a nook under the 
rafters. 
One hour passed! two! Harvey’s courage 
seemed to ooze out at his finger tips. If 
they came they would surely kill him, and 
then—Ah! what was that? A stealthy 
tread outside, and the great doors creaked 
softly as they were shoved apart, then a 
whisper which seemed to freeze Harvey’s 
blood— 
“Here, pour on plenty of ile, and—” 
Toot! toot! toooot! 
“It’s that devil’s brat!” exclaimed one of 
the men with a furious oath. “Help me to 
find him quick, or we shall have the neigh¬ 
bors on us.” 
Toot! toooot! toot! toot! went the old 
horn. Bow! wow! wow! came from the 
dog in his kennel, and the chickens on their 
roosts near by, set up a tremendous cackle. 
Toooot! toooot! toot! The two ruffians 
seeing that their game was up, rushed for 
the door, but Mr. Adams and a crowd of 
