LITTLE BAREFOOT
"Look out, little Barefoot, the hookworm will catch you if you don't watch."
This is what Will seemed to hear a wee small voice say one day as he stepped briskly along the dewy path. Will was driving the cows to the cool, green pasture down in the meadow.
Will always drove old Brindle and Bess to the pasture every morning before he went to school. Brindle and Bess loved the juicy grass in the meadow pasture. They loved to drink the cool brook water. They would stand knee-deep in it on hot days. Soft pictures of the cows, and the tall trees, and the clouds could be seen in its water.
When the sun was high in the sky, at noon-time, old Brindle and Bess would lie down under the trees near the brook, and chew and think, and chew and think.
One afternoon Will came home from school limping, and tired, and hot. His feet hurt him, so he begged his mother not to send him for the cows, but to let some one else bring Brindle and Bess home at milking time.
Will's mother knew that something was surely wrong, for Will liked nothing better than to call faithful Rover and romp away to the pasture. His mother looked at his feet and found them blistered and very sore.
"We will call the doctor," she said.
Uncle John looked wise when he came to see the little fellow.