418 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September. 
spring water which gushed out of the rocks clear 
as crystal, and fell into a beautiful moss-fringed 
hollow, like a basin below. “ This is jolly !” cried 
Johnny, kneeling down and taking a long drink of 
the pure liquid, using his little sunburned hands 
for a drinking-cup, “ and just the place for fairies 
to live in ” ; for his grandmother had told him 
many stories of elves and brownies, which old 
country people half believe frequent the woods, 
and which he liked to imagine were true, although 
he knew better. “ So, little folks,” he called 
playfully, “as I have found the four-leaf clover, I 
wish you would appear and give me three wishes, 
as they do in the fairy books.” The words had 
hardly passed his lips when his sharp eyes caught 
sight of something bright glittering amongst a bed 
of feathery ferns nearby. “ What can that be?” 
thought the boy, now quite sober ; and half afraid, 
he plunged his hand down in the damp leaves, and 
held up a little gold watch, suspended by a slender 
chain. “ Ob, what a beauty !” he exclaimed. “ I 
never saw one half as elegant; but bow did- it 
come here?” That was the mystery, for nobody 
in that neighborhood owned such a watch, and few 
strangers knew of the little spring hidden up there 
among the trees. 
“ it must be the luck brought me by the magic 
clover,” concluded Johnny at last, as he slipped 
the watch in his pocket and fdled the pitcher; 
not being hungry, and rushed out of the house. 
For the first time in his life, Johnny lay awake 
far into the night; and how dreary the hooting of 
the owls and chirping of insects sounded outside; 
and when he did fall asleep, it was only to be tor¬ 
mented by ugly dreams. He got up in the morn¬ 
ing dull and heavy-eyed, and as he put on his hat, 
still adorned with the withered leaf, he wondered 
if the clover had brought him such very good luck 
after all. It was still early when he started for the 
hay field, but some one was before him, for, as he 
trudged slowly along, his bare feet making deep 
prints in the dusty road, he came upon a young 
woman sitting by the wayside, her face hidden in 
her hands, and crying as though her heart would 
break.—“ Why, Kittie !” he exclaimed, “ what is 
the matter ? I thought you were as happy as a lark 
up at the big hotel.”—The girl raised her head, 
and, seeing who it was, sobbed, “ Oh, Johnny, so 
I was, so I was, but I have been turned away; and 
what is more, my character taken from me, and it 
will kill my poor old mother to know I am in dis¬ 
grace.”—“ But what have you done ?”—“ Nothing, 
nothing whatever; but I took care of Master Le 
Roy’s room, and they say I stole his watch and 
chain out of the top drawer, although I never saw 
it. But it is gone, and I can not prove my inno¬ 
cence. You will never believe me now, Johnny, 
when I say, ‘ Honesty is the best policy.’”—“In- 
chap,” and he followed with his eyes a lad of 
about his own age, who, mounted on a gray pony, 
came cantering up the road leading from the sum¬ 
mer hotel down by the river; “and, above all, I 
would like to go to a first-rate school, as I s’pose 
he does, for I don’t want to grow up without 
knowing anything.” And Johnny heaved a little 
sigh, for his greatest desire in life was to be able 
to go to the Academy at B-, a town some five 
miles distant, but to which his uncle, with whom 
he lived, could never afford to send him. His 
mind, however, was soon diverted, for as his eyes 
came back from the young rider, now disappearing 
over the hill, they fell upon something growing 
down by the fence, and he exclaimed joyfully, 
“Hallo ! if there isn’t a four-leaf clover! and that 
always brings the finder good luck.” He picked 
the tiny green leaf, and stuck it triumphantly in 
bis ragged straw hat. “ Now we’ll see what fine 
thing turns up,” and he flourished his rake more 
vigorously than ever. 
“Johnny, Johnny Tlalliday !” called Farmer 
Turnipseed, coming toward him, with a large 
brown earthenware pitcher in his hand, “just run 
over to the spring and get us some cool drinking 
water; this scorching sun makes us thirsty, and it 
wants an hour yet of noon and lunch time. But 
hurry as fast as you can.”—“ Yes, sir,” said 
Johnny, glad of the rest; and taking the pitcher, 
set off on a run toward a clump of trees some 
quarter of a mile distant. Here it was delightfully 
cool and shady, and made more refreshing by the 
“ and won’t the boys stare when I wear it to meet¬ 
ing next Sunday ! Guess Tom Tucker won’t be 
so proud of his old silver ‘turnip ’ when he sees 
this.” And with his head full of these delightful 
anticipations, Johnny scampered back to the hay 
field with his brimming pitcher. He told no one 
of the treasure he had found, but all the afternoon 
he was so much engaged trying to decide whether 
to sell the gold watch for a good round sum, or 
keep it for himself, that Farmer Turnipseed had 
several times to reprove him for idleness ; and 
when at sunset he turned his face homeward, the 
world did not seem so bright as it had in the morn¬ 
ing, for uneasy doubts had begun to creep into his 
mind, and he wondered if he ought not to at least 
try and find the owner. But he hated the idea of 
giving up the beautiful watch and chain, the finest 
piece of jewelry he had ever seen, to any one, and 
on reaching home he hurried to his own room, and 
hid it carefully away in a cigar box, which held 
the few treasures he possessed. 
“I saw Kittie Rose this afternoon,” said lus 
Cousin Annie, as Johnny joined the family at the 
supper table. “ She has been hired to help at the 
‘ Riverside Hotel ’ for a few months, and is de¬ 
lighted, for she hopes to earn enough to go and 
see her old mother, who is very feeble.”—“lam 
glad of that,” said Johnny, for Kittie had once 
nursed him through a long illness, and he was very 
fond of her ; but as he spoke, some words of lier’s 
came back to him, and he turned very red, for they 
were these : “ Remember, Johnny, dear, that ‘ hon¬ 
esty is always the best policy.’ ”—“ Are you 
warm ? ” asked Annie. She opened her eyes in sur¬ 
prise when her cousin muttered something about 
deed I will,” cried Johnny, his freckled face all 
aglow. “ It is a shame to say such a thing of you ! 
but Kittie, I can set it all right; just wait here.” 
And away he sped down the road. In ten minutes 
he was back, flushed and excited, waving the 
watch and chain in the air. The girl could hardly 
believe her eyes ; but without waiting to explain, 
both hastened to the hotel, and inquired eagerly 
for young Master Le Roy. He came down-stairs, 
accompanied by his father, who looked very grave 
when, having heard Johnny’s story, he turned to 
his son, the same lad who bad ridden past the hay 
field the day before.—“I thought, Arthur,” he 
said, “ that you were certain of having left your 
watch in the top drawer?”—“I believed I did, 
but I must have worn it yesterday, after all, 
and dropped it when I ran up to look for the little 
spring Mr. Preston told us of.”—“Nothing is so 
easy as to be mistaken, and you have caused a 
great deal of trouble to tbis poor girl by your care¬ 
lessness and forgetfulness, and would have lost 
her place had it not been for this honest boy ; so I 
shall insist upon your giving her all the pocket 
money you have left.” 
With a wry face, Arthur drew out his purse and 
emptied a collection of bills, silver, and copper 
into Kittie’s lap, who, after some protesting, was 
forced to accept it, and went back to her work 
with a beaming countenance. “And now, my 
good lad, what can 1 do for you?” asked Mr. Lc 
Roy, turning to Johnny, who was uneasily twirling 
his hat in his hands. “It must have been a tempta¬ 
tion to you to keep the watch, for it is a very valu¬ 
able one.”—“It was, sir,” confessed Johnny, 
“ until I saw Kittie ; but now I am glad to be rid 
The Four-Leaf Clover. 
Johnny Halliday was raking hay in Farmer Tur- 
nipseed’s meadow, and as he busily worked he 
whistled a merry tune, for he felt very happy that 
summer’s day, though why he could hardly have 
told, except that the sky was so blue, the smell of 
the new-mown grass so very sweet, and he was so 
glad to have a week’s engagement at such pleasant 
out-door employment as hay-making. 
“ There is fun in being a country boy, even if 
one is poor,” thought Johnny ; “but I should not 
mind having one fine suit of clothes like that 
Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
