“Are you not ashamed,” cried my little friend, “to ride, three of you at once, upon a little pony who is lame and ill?”
At first the boys were inclined to answer by some impertinence, but seeing Mr. and Mrs. de Roisel coming up behind Maurice, they rather sulkily got down from the pony. Then the poor animal, relieved from their weight, raised its drooping head, and a sudden suspicion flashed across the mind of Maurice. He cried out,—
“Oh! it is Cressida!”
Maurice ran back to his parents to tell them of his discovery; but instead of explaining himself, he could only say,—“Come, come quickly!”
TWO BOYS AND A GIRL HAD SEATED THEMSELVES UPON ITS BACK.
He took his mother’s arm, for he was so agitated he could scarcely stand.
Mr. de Roisel at once asked who was the owner of the unfortunate Cressida. It was one of the boys present: but the mother of this boy, being at work in the next field, observed that something was going on, and she now came up out of curiosity to see what was the matter. When Mr. de Roisel said he wished to buy the horse, she replied that she would sell it willingly.
“How much do you ask for it?” said he.
“You can give me whatever you please, sir.”