At the close of the afternoon John returned home. He went into the house to carry his Virgil and Greek Reader, being accustomed to prepare a part of his lessons out of school. On going out into the yard, he saw Ben lounging lazily against a fence, whittling.
"Are you going out to ride, John?" he asked, in an unusually friendly tone.
"I think I will ride a little way," said John.
"I got enough of it yesterday," said Ben.
"You were unlucky. If you had not struck Prince it would have been all right."
"I don't care about trying it again. I hope you'll have a pleasant ride."
"Thank you," said John, unsuspiciously.
He went out to the barn, and opened the door that led to the stables. He made his way at once to Prince's stall, and looked in.
It was empty!