“Be lively, now,” the grocer said. “Get back as soon as you can.”
John jumped on the wagon, seized the whip and gave the horse a sharp cut to begin the day with.
John kept the whip in his hand. If the horse held up his pace a minute to give himself a chance to breathe, another snap of the whip kept him on the run.
At the different houses where he left the groceries John rushed in and out as quickly as possible. In several places he was given fresh orders for articles that were needed.
So the morning passed, and dinner time arrived. As John put the horse in the stable he could not help seeing that his breath came hard and fast, and that he was wet with sweat.
“I guess it won’t do to give him any water, he is so hot,” John said, as he hurriedly put a scanty allowance of dry feed into the manger.
The worn-out horse, trembling in every nerve with the fatigue of going hard all the morning, was almost choking with thirst.
When John hurried in to his dinner, the first thing he asked for was something warm to drink. His mother gave him a cup of hot cocoa, and a good dinner, which he ate rapidly. Then off he started for the afternoon’s work.
“Hurry up,” said the grocer as soon as John appeared. “Get out the horse and take these baskets; they are all rush orders.”