a trace of Ebenezer's
track. So many other horses had passed by the house since morning that
Spot couldn't even tell which way Ebenezer had gone.

In desperation Spot ran up the road a little way. Then he turned around
and ran down the hill as far as the gristmill.

By the time he reached the mill pond Spot gave up the chase. He knew it
was hopeless.

And seeing several of Johnnie Green's friends swimming in the pond, he
joined them.

The boys welcomed him with shouts. And the water was just as cool as
ever. But somehow Spot didn't find swimming as pleasant as he always had
before. He missed Johnnie Green. There wasn't another boy there that
gave Spot the same thrill by whistling to him, or patting him, or
romping with him that Johnnie Green gave him.

After a while Spot shook himself and trotted back to Farmer Green's
place. He felt homesick. But when he reached the house somehow he felt
worse than ever. It was terribly quiet. It was just like a Sunday
morning, when everybody was at church. Farmer Green and the hired man
were working in the fields. Mrs. Green was busy in the house--too busy
to stop and talk with old Spot.

"It's frightfully dull here," Spot groaned. "I wish somebody would
shout." And just to break the silence he lifted up his nose and tried to
bark.

It was far from a cheerful noise that he made, for he only succeeded in
giving a mournful howl. And that sad sound made Spot gloomier than ever.

"Well," he muttered, "there's nothing else to do, so I'll go and dig up
that bone that I buried in the orchard last week."

He found the bone where he had hidden it. Yet it did not look half as
inviting as it had when he covered it with dirt a few days before. He
stared at it dully. Then he put it back in its hole and pawed the dirt
over it again.

He found no pleasure in anything. No longer was there any fun in chasing
woodchucks. The cows might have stayed in the cornfield all day long and
Spot wouldn't have bothered them. He didn't even get any sport out of
teasing Miss Kitty Cat.

Strangest of all, he couldn't find any comfort in lying down for a quiet
nap. The moment he tried to pass the time away in that fashion he began
to think about Johnnie Green and what a nice boy he was. And then he
would get up and walk around and around the house. Hour after hour Spot
spent in that fashion.

It wasn't many days before he had worn a path in the grass all the way
around the farmhouse. When Farmer Green