me in saving
him.

They ran out into the middle of the road. The crazy little pony was
already close up, and there was no time to be lost.

"Now!" shouted Rob. "Nab him, and throw him if you can!"

Both scouts fastened upon the bridle close to the bit. Every ounce of
muscle the boys possessed was brought to bear, supplemented by all the
shrewdness they had acquired upon the football field, in tackling and
throwing the runner who held the coveted pigskin oval.

There was something of a struggle, and then down went the frantic pony.

"Hey! let me sit on him; I'll keep him quiet!" called Tubby, as he came
panting up to the spot; and once he had deposited his extra weight upon
the little beast, it had no other course open but to succumb to
circumstances and lie quiet.

Rob turned to see what had become of the child. There was a stout,
red-faced man, coming on the run as fast as he could hurry. Undoubtedly
it was his child. While he was in a store, the pony probably had been
taken with a sudden seizure of what Rob called "blind staggers," which
sometimes causes horses to dash madly away as though possessed of an
evil spirit, and even to destroy themselves against any barrier that
arises in their path.

The child, though crying with fright, was apparently unhurt. Some one
had taken her from the basket-cart, and should the pony have broken
loose again, it could not have imperiled the little one.

In another minute, the red-faced man was hugging his child, and covering
her face with kisses. The people must have told him who had saved his
darling, for he came up to Rob and Merritt. (The pony had now become
quite calm, though Tubby continued to occupy his seat, for, as he
afterwards said, "he knew a good thing when he found it; and he was
_awful_ tired.")

The big stout man, evidently a German, from his appearance and language,
began to pour out his thanks; but Rob shook his head as he remarked:

"None of us can speak German, sir. We are American boys, you see; I can
understand a little French, but that is all."

The man's face lighted up. He immediately seized Rob by the hand and
commenced to kiss him on the cheeks; but the boys had learned that this
was the common method of warm salutation abroad, even among men, though
they had never seen it done across the water.

"I am glad you are American and not English!" the other went on to cry.
"I would be sorry, indeed, if I owed the life of my little Frieda to an
Engli