single stick. Ef I
wasn't so kind-hearted I'd chastise dat mule wuss dan I has, dat's
what I would."

Tom said nothing. He was stooping down, looking at the gearing that
connected the tread mill with the shaft which revolved the saw.
Suddenly he uttered an exclamation,

"Rad, have you been monkeying with this machinery?" he asked.

"Me? Good land, Mistah Swift, no, sah! I wouldn't tech it. It's jest
as I got it from de man I bought it oh. It worked when he had it,
but he used a hoss. It's all due to de contrariness ob Boomerang,
an' if I--"

"No, it isn't the mule's fault at all!" exclaimed Tom. "The mill is
out of gear, and tread is locked; that's all. The man you bought it
off probably did it so you could haul it along the road. I'll have
it fixed for you in a few minutes. Wait until I get some tools."

From the bag on his motor-cycle Tom got his implements. He first
unlocked the treadmill, so that the inclined platform, on which the
animal slowly walked, could revolve. No sooner had he done this than
Boomerang, feeling the slats under his hoofs moving away, started
forward. With a rattle the treadmill slid around.

"Good land o' massy! It's goin'!" cried Eradicate delightedly. "It
suah am goin'!" he added as he saw the mule, with nimble feet, send
the revolving, endless string of slats around and around. "But de
saw doan't move, Mistah Swift. Yo' am pretty smart at fixin' it as
much as yo' has, but I reckon it's too busted t' eber saw any wood.
I'se got bad luck, dat's what I has."

"Nonsense!" exclaimed Tom. "The sawmill will be going in a moment.
All I have to do is to throw it into gear. See here, Rad. When you
want the saw to go you just throw this handle forward. That makes
the gears mesh."

"What's dat 'bout mush?" asked Eradicate.

"Mesh--not mush. I mean it makes the cogs fit together. See," and
Tom pressed the lever. In an instant, with a musical whirr, the saw
began revolving.

"Hurrah! Dere it goes! Golly! see de saw move!" cried the delighted
colored man. He seized a stick of wood, and in a trice it was sawed
through.

"Whoop!" yelled Eradicate. "I'm sabed now! Bless yo', Mistah Swift,
yo' suttinly am a wondah!"

"Now I'll show you how it works," went on Tom. "When you want to
stop Boomerang, you just pull this handle. That locks the tread, and
he can't move it," and, suiting the action to his words, Tom stopped
the mill. "Then," he went on, "when you want him to move, you pull
the handl