e so cu'rus. Seem's though they loved the look o' me an' the
taste o' the tame grass. Mebbe God meant em t' serve in the yoke some
way an' be the friend o' man. They're the outcasts o' the forest--the
prey o' the other animals an' men like 'em only when they're dead.
An' they're the purtiest critter alive an' the spryest an' the mos'
graceful.'

'Men are the mos' terrible of all critters, an' the meanest,' said Uncle
Eb. 'They're the only critters that kill fer fun.'

'Bedtime,' said our host, rising presently. 'Got t' be up early 'n the
morning.'

We climbed a ladder to the top floor of the cabin with the hired men, of
whom there were two. The good lady of the house had made a bed for us
on the floor and I remember Fred came up the ladder too, and lay down
beside us. Uncle Eb was up with the men in the morning and at breakfast
time my hostess came and woke me with kisses and helped me to dress.
When we were about going she brought a little wagon out of the cellar
that had been a playing of her dead boy, and said I could have it. This
wonderful wagon was just the thing for the journey we were making. When
I held the little tongue in my hand I was half-way to heaven already. It
had four stout wheels and a beautiful red box. Her brother had sent it
all the way from New York and it had stood so long in the cellar it was
now much in need of repair. Uncle Eb took it to the tool shop in the
stable and put it in shipshape order and made a little pair of thills to
go in place of the tongue. Then he made a big flat collar and a back-pad
out of the leather in old boot-legs, and rigged a pair of tugs out
of two pieces of rope. Old Fred was quite cast down when he stood in
harness between the shafts.

He had waited patiently to have his collar fitted; he had grinned
and panted and wagged his tail with no suspicion of the serious and
humiliating career he was entering upon. Now he stood with a sober face
and his aspect was full of meditation.

'You fightin' hound!' said Uncle Eb, 'I hope this'll improve yer
character.'

Fred tried to sit down when Uncle Eb tied a leading rope to his collar.
When he heard the wheels rattle and felt the pull of the wagon he looked
back at it and growled a little and started to run. Uncle Eb shouted
'whoa', and held him back, and then the dog got down on his belly and
trembled until we patted his head and gave him a kind word. He seemed
to understand presently and came along with a steady stride