The death of his Aunt Mary was almost as much of a blow to the lad as
the loss of his mother, for it left him under the entire charge of his
uncle, Abner Balberry. The latter had no children of his own and he made
Nat work as hard as if he were a full-grown man.

The Balberry farm was located in Ohio, not far from the town of Caswell.
It consisted of one hundred acres of good land, with a house and several
outbuildings. Among his neighbors Abner Balberry was considered the
meanest man in the district. Abner himself thought he was a pretty good
man and he counted himself a real "pillow" of the church, as he
expressed it.

For two years life on the Balberry farm had been one continual grind to
Nat Nason. He was expected to work from morning to night, and such a
thing as a whole day off was utterly unknown to him. He received next to
nothing in the way of spending money.

"I'll save the money fer ye," Abner Balberry would say, when questioned
on the subject. "'Tain't good fer boys to have too much cash on hand. It
makes 'em reckless."

"But you never give me anything," had been Nat's answer.

"Never mind--I'm a-givin' you a good home an' good eatin'," was the
answer.

The good home and good fare were something to be questioned. Nat's room
was a small one under the roof, his clothing usually made over from the
garments worn by Mr. Balberry, and such a thing as an elaborate table
was unknown on the farm. Many times Mrs. Felton had wished to cook more,
or make some fancy dishes, but Abner Balberry had always stopped her
from doing such a thing.

"Plain fare is good enough," he would say. "An' if ye eat too much it
only brings on the dyspepsy." More than once Nat went to bed feeling
positively hungry.

When Nat reached the barnyard he found his uncle already there with the
milk pails and milking an old white cow called Sukey.

"Go on down the lane and drive up Jule," cried Abner Balberry, without
stopping his milking. "She just went down that way."

"All right," answered Nat, and passing through the barnyard he hurried
down the lane mentioned.

Jule was a new cow that the farmer had purchased a week before. She did
not seem inclined to herd with the other animals and Nat had had quite a
good deal of trouble with her before.

At the end of the lane was an orchard and here he found the cow,
contentedly eating the fresh grass. She tried to get away from him, but
he was too quick for the creature and soon had he