EBEN AND FLORA TAKE A DRIVE.
AT this moment the conversation was interrupted by Mr. Wilbur, who entered in a great flutter.
"I should like to know who's been a-meddling with that ere team of mine?" said he, in an aggrieved tone of voice. "There's my horse a-standing hitched by the mill door with the traces just hacked right off, and the wagon ain't nowhere to be seen. I'd like to know who's been a-meddling with my team, that's all."
"Here's the fellow," said Jeduthun, laying his hands on Eben. "If it hadn't been for him, your old horse would have been lying where your wagon is—in the mill pond."
And Jeduthun proceeded to tell the story, which lost nothing in the process. Mr. Wilbur did not seem inclined to be very grateful to Eben for his interference.
"Just like boys! Never have no sense," said he, angrily. "Why couldn't you hold on and holler?"
"I did make all the noise I could, but nobody heard me," said Eben. "I saw the old horse must go in a minute, and I did what seemed for the best."
"Next time, Eben, you can let the horse go along with the wagon," said Jeduthun. "You don't seem to get much thanks for saving him. I know I thought you'd be killed before I could get to you. I never saw anything better done in my life."
"Indeed, Mr. Wilbur, I don't see what better the boy could do," said Mr. Antis. "It was not a very good place to leave a horse."
"Of course it wasn't. Trust a boy for finding out the worst place to leave a horse or anything else. I told Tom to put him in the shade. Just like boys! I never saw one that wasn't a plague. Now, there's my wagon in the pond, and all my groceries in it."