to ha gooan to nowt! Aw could caant thi
ribs befoor, but aw can feel 'em nah. Ther's nowt left but a skeleton!"

Th' meoin began to show a bit breeter, an' after grooapin abaat for a
while he sed, "It strikes me it isn't a horse at all. Ther's somdy been
playin me a trick. Awm nooan mich ov a driver at th' best hand, an' awd
as mich as aw could manage to drive comin, but awm blest if aw can drive
a five barr'd gate goo in back! Awm fast what to do wi' this lot."

"Why, what's th' matter, Joa?" sed one o'th' chaps, comin' up as if he
knew nowt abaat it. "What are ta dooin wi' th' heears here at this time
o' neet?"

"That's what aw want to know," he sed, an' he tell'd him all he knew
abaat it.

"Well, th' horse can't be far off," th' chap sed, "they'd nivver tak th'
horse, for it isn't worth stailin. It'll be i' one o' theas fields sewer
enuff. We can find it bi mooin leet."

Joa an him went to seek it, an' as he knew just whear to find it they
had'nt long to luk. As sooin as ther backs wor turned, tother chaps
oppened th' heears an' filled it wi' th' biggest topstooans off th' wall
'at they could lift, an' when it wor fairly looadened they shut it up
agean, an' left it as if it had nivver been touched.

Joa an' his friend coom back wi' th' horse, an' had it harnessed up all
right, but altho' it tugged an' pooled as hard as it could, it did'nt
stir th' heears.

"Its studden soa long wol aw think it must ha' takken rooit," sed Joa.

"O, nay, its nobbut settled a bit wi' th' graand bein soft. It'll goa
reight enuff when it gets off. Tak hold o' one o'th' wheels an' let's
give it a start."

Th' old horse pooled its hardest, an' wi' th' help they gave at th'
wheels they set it movin, an' as sooin as th' chap saw that, he bid Joa
geoid neet an' left him, tellin him at if it stuck fast he mud get
behund an' thrust a bit. It hadn't gooan monny yards when Joa saw he mud
awther thrust or stop thear all th' neet, an' altho' th' rate they wor
gooin at wor slow enuff to suit even one a' Joa's disposition, yet th'
sweeat rolled off him, for he'd quite as mich to do as th' horse. Once
or twice he stopt to consider whether he hadn't better tak th' horse
aght an' get into th' shafts hissen.

Abaat two o'clock i'th' mornin they gate back hooam, an' old Rodger wor
waitin for him in a ragin temper, an' when he saw his favorite horse,
"Old Pickle," blowin an' steamin as if it had just come aght ov a mash
tub, an' Joa wi' a white