It must be Rudolph,” he said to himself. “He has
made off with the horse. Now I am in a precious scrape. What will Mr. Porter say to me?”
Tony was in error, as we know, in concluding that Rudolph had carried away the horse. The tramp had no use for him. Besides, he knew that such a proceeding would have exposed him to suspicion, which it was very important for him to avoid.
Who, then, had taken the horse? That is a question which we are able to answer, though Tony could not.
Fifteen minutes before Sam Payson, whose place Tony had taken, with a companion, Ben Hardy, while wandering through the woods, had espied a horse.
Hello!” said Ben. “Here’s a horse!”
“So it is!” said Sam. “It’s rather odd that he should be tied here.”
“I wonder whose it is?”
Sam had been examining him carefully, and had recognized him.
It’s Mr. Porter’s Bill. Don’t you see that white spot? That’s the way I know him. I have harnessed that horse fifty times.”