boy already there, holding the now
quiet animal. The Greek scholar looked at him admiringly.

"My young friend," said he, "that was a noble thought, worthy of a
philosopher."

The boy grinned.

"They generally stop when they get into a plowed field," he said. "What
skeered him?"

Mr. Tippengray briefly related the facts of the case, and the horse was
led into the road. It was soon ascertained that no material harm had
been done to harness or vehicle.

"Young man," said Mr. Tippengray, "what will you take for your hat!"

The boy removed his head-covering and looked at it. It was of coarse
straw, very wide, very much out of shape, without a band, and with a
hole in the crown surrounded by a tuft of broken straw.

"Well," said he, "it ain't worth much now, but it'll take a quarter to
buy a new one."

"Here is a quarter for your hat," said the Greek scholar, "and another
for your perspicacity. I suppose I shall find my hat on the road, but I
cannot wait for that. The sun is too hot."

[Illustration: "WHAT SKEERED HIM?"]

The Greek scholar now started homeward, leading Hammerstein. He liked
walking, and had no intention whatever of again getting into that cart.
If, when they reached the overturned wagon, the animal should again
upheave himself, or in any way misbehave, Mr. Tippengray intended to let
go of him, and allow him to pursue his homeward way in such manner and
at such speed as might best please him.

[Illustration: MR. TIPPENGRAY STOPPED AND LISTENED.]

The two walked a long distance without reaching the object of
Hammerstein's fright, and Mr. Tippengray began to think that the road
was a good deal narrower and more shaded than he had supposed it to be.
The fact was, that a road diverged from the right, near the top of the
hill, which he had not noticed when passing it in mad career, and
naturally turning to the right, without thinking very much about it, he
had taken this road instead of the one by which he had come. Our
scholar, however, did not yet comprehend that he was on the wrong road,
and kept on.

Soon his way led through the woods, with great outstretching trees, with
wide-open spaces, interspersed here and there with masses of
undergrowth. Mr. Tippengray greatly enjoyed the shaded road, the smell
of the pines, and the flowers scattered along the edges of the wood. But
in a few minutes he would doubtless have discovered that he had gone
astray, and, notwithstanding the pleasantness of his