ot to punish him some other way.
The boys won't be home for ever so long, and it won't do to wait."

"I have always heard the only way of curing a dog of killing hens was to
tie one around his neck," said Mrs. Franklin, doubtfully. "Perhaps it
had better be done. We will call one of the men."

"No, I will do it all," said Cynthia; "it's not a very nice piece of
work, but I'll do it."

[Illustration: POOR BOB! HIS JOY HAD BEEN QUICKLY TURNED TO MOURNING.]

Cord was brought, and she finally succeeded in attaching the defunct hen
to Bob's collar. Poor Bob! His joy had been quickly turned to mourning.
And now this stern Cynthia--she who had hitherto been apparently so
affably disposed towards him--fastened him to the hitching-post, and
came with a horrid horsewhip to chastise him! Bob never forgot that
morning. He always thought of Cynthia with more respect after that.

When Neal came home he highly approved of all the proceedings except the
horsewhip.

"Couldn't you do it with his own whip?" he asked. "It places a dog at a
mean disadvantage to tie him up and then whip him. It is so lowering to
his dignity."

"One of us had to be at a disadvantage," said Cynthia, indignantly, "and
I should think it was better for Bob to be at it than for me. And as
for his dignity, I think it ought to be lowered."

To which wise remark Neal was forced to agree.

Jack was much disgusted at losing one of his best hens. What with the
fox last winter, and a neighbor's dog that had killed seven, and a
peculiar disease which had taken off fifty, luck seemed to be against
the poultry business. But, undiscouraged, Jack had refilled the machine
and was awaiting results. Some of last year's hens had begun to lay, and
he was sending eggs to the Boston markets. There were actually a few
more figures on the page for receipts.

Bob's misdemeanor temporarily diverted the minds of the family from the
trouble about Neal, but Mr. Franklin's return that night brought up the
subject again to some of them.

He told his wife that he wished to speak with her, and together they
went into the library and shut the door. He laid two letters before her
on the table--the one he had received that morning from Bronson, and a
second one from the same source, which had come by the evening mail. The
latter was very brief:

"MY DEAR MR. FRANKLIN,--The very day that I sent my letter to you
I received a money-order from Gordon for the amount he owed me.