eyond. But by this time
Finn was beginning to feel that the night walk had been prolonged
far enough. There was no sign of any more of the aromatic meat
coming his way, and he had given up asking for it, and nosing the
man's pocket. He thought he would like to turn now, and get back to
Kathleen and Tara and the Master. The day, and its immediate
predecessors, had been tiring, and Finn thought with strong desire
of his fragrant wheaten straw bed in the coach-house at home. Yes,
it was certainly time to return.

Accordingly, Finn asked his leader to stop, and, finding that the
man took no notice, he asked again, through his nose, and urgently.
The man paid not the slightest heed to this, and that rather
angered Finn, who was not accustomed to being ignored; so he
planted his fore-feet firmly, and stopped dead. As the lead
tightened, the slip-collar pressed painfully on Finn's throat; but
he felt that the time had arrived to bring this excursion to an
end, and so steeled himself to ignore this pressure.

"None o' that, now!" said the man, with a new note in his voice, of
extreme harshness. "Come along now; d'ye hear!"

Finn's fore-legs remained rigid. He had made up his mind now, and
already he was beginning to regret having stayed so long with this
stranger.

The man now gave a powerful tug at the leather lead, and at that
the pressure of the slip-collar forced Finn's tongue out between
his teeth. This was really painful, but it was clear in Finn's mind
that he must go home, so he remained straining backward.

"Come on 'ere, ye brute!" growled the man savagely, and, with a
vicious jerk at the lead, he took a step to one side, and then
kicked Finn on the hind-quarters as hard as he could. That was the
first real blow Finn had ever received, and it taught him quite a
lot. Up till this point it had not occurred to him for a moment
that the man entertained any other than kindly, friendly feelings
for him. In fact, he supposed that every one entertained kindly
feelings towards him. He had never experienced any other sort of
attitude. But this savage kick was a revelation to him. Also, it
hurt. Finn turned in his tracks and plunged forward in the
direction from which, they had come with such sudden strength that
he almost dragged the lead from the man's strong hand, and would
undoubtedly have freed himself, but for the slip-collar. As it was,
the sudden jerk nearly throttled Finn, and brought him rolling on
his back wit