When John came to the store the next morning a very angry looking grocer met him at the door. “You can go home as soon as you like. I won’t have a boy that drives my horse to death,” he said.
“Is the horse dead?” asked John, turning pale.
“It is not your fault if he is not dead. I have been up nearly all night with him, and I must get another horse to take his place until he is well.”
“You told me to hurry every time I went out,” answered John.
“Well, if you had any sense, you would know when a horse is used up and rest him,” replied the grocer.
The horse died that day; and the grocer, the boy driver, and Mrs. Bell were all to blame.
The grocer ought not to have trusted a boy who had no sympathy for animals. Such a boy is not fit to drive and care for a horse.
John was too selfish to give the horse time to breathe or to eat, and he did not care whether he was made comfortable in the stable or not.
Mrs. Bell was thoughtless in giving her orders; so she made the horse take many unnecessary trips to her house.