"Indeed! How happens it that you are not at the bottom of the well still?"
"I got out."
"So I see; but how?"
"I climbed up by the stones till I reached the rope, and then I found it easy. I hurried to where I had left the horse, but it was gone. I supposed that the Quaker had taken it, but James tells me Sam Payson found it and brought it back."
"Look here, boy," said the landlord, sternly, "do you expect me to believe this romance of yours?"
"I don't know whether you will or not, sir. All I can say is that it is the exact truth."
"I cannot keep you in my employ any longer. I have been deceived by you, and should no longer trust you. You certainly have mistaken your vocation. You are not fit to be a stable boy."
"I should like to know what I am fit for," said Tony, despondently.
"I will tell you, then. Judging from the story you have told me, I should think you might succeed very well in writing a romance. I don't know whether it pays, but you can try it."