f tallow down there
in the hottest part of the fire. Look out; don't tip it--there!
Now, you come here an' help me pour this soup into the bottle. I'm
goin' to git that ole hoss so het up he'll think he's havin' a
sunstroke! Seems sorter bad to keep on pestering him when he's so
near gone, but this here soup'll feel good when it once gits inside
him."

When the kettle was empty, the soup was impartially distributed over
Mrs. Wiggs and the patient, but a goodly amount had "got inside,"
and already the horse was losing his rigidity.

Only once did Billy pause in his work, and that was to ask:

"Ma, what do you think I'd better name him?"

Giving names was one of Mrs. Wiggs's chief accomplishments, and
usually required much thoughtful consideration; but in this case if
there was to be a christening it must be at once.

"I'd like a jography name," suggested Billy, feeling that nothing
was too good to bestow upon his treasure.

Mrs. Wiggs stood with the soup dripping from her hands, and
earnestly contemplated the horse. Babies, pigs, goats, and puppies
had drawn largely on her supply of late, and geography names
especially were scarce. Suddenly a thought struck her.

"I'll tell you what, Billy! We'll call him Cuby! It's a town I
heared 'em talkin' 'bout at the grocery."

By this time the tallow was melted, and Mrs. Wiggs carried it over
by the horse, and put each of his hoofs into the hot liquid, while
Billy rubbed the legs with all the strength of his young arms.

"That's right," she said; "now you run home an' git that piece of
carpet by my bed, an' we'll kiver him up. I am goin' to git them
fence rails over yonder to keep the fire goin'."

Through the long night they worked with their patient, and when the
first glow of morning appeared in the east, a triumphant procession
wended its way across the Cabbage Patch. First came an old woman,
bearing sundry pails, kettles, and bottles; next came a very sleepy
little boy, leading a trembling old horse, with soup all over its
head, tallow on its feet, and a strip of rag-carpet tied about its
middle.

And thus Cuba, like his geographical namesake, emerged from the
violent ordeal of reconstruction with a mangled constitution,
internal dissension, a decided preponderance of foreign element, but
a firm and abiding trust in the new power with which his fortunes
had been irrevocably cast.

CHAPTER V

A REMINISCENCE

"It is easy enough to be pleasant
Wh