ddle, or pad, as it is properly called; and whenever he lost
his balance and fell there was no question asked as to whether or not he
had hurt himself, but he was mercilessly cut with the whip.

Messrs. Lord and Jacobs gained very much by comparison with Mr. Castle
in Toby's mind. He had thought that his lot could not be harder than it
was with them; but when he had experienced the pains of two or three of
Mr. Castle's lessons in horsemanship he thought that he would stay with
the candy venders all the season cheerfully rather than take six more
lessons of Mr. Castle.

Night after night he fell asleep from the sheer exhaustion of crying, as
he had been pouring out his woes in the old monkey's ears and laying his
plans to run away. Now, more than ever, was he anxious to get away, and
yet each day was taking him farther from home, and consequently
necessitating a larger amount of money with which to start. As Old Ben
did not give him as much sympathy as Toby thought he ought to give--for
the old man, while he would not allow Mr. Job Lord to strike the boy if
he was near, thought it a necessary portion of the education for Mr.
Castle to lash him all he had a mind to--he poured out all his troubles
in the old monkey's ears, and kept him with him from the time he ceased
work at night until he was obliged to commence again in the morning.

The skeleton and his wife thought Toby's lot a hard one, and tried by
every means in their power to cheer the poor boy. Neither one of them
could say to Mr. Castle what they had said to Mr. Lord, for the rider
was a far different sort of a person, and one whom they would not be
allowed to interfere with in any way. Therefore poor Toby was obliged to
bear his troubles and his whippings as best he might, with only the
thought to cheer him of the time when he could leave them all by running
away.

But, despite all his troubles, Toby learned to ride faster than his
teacher had expected he would, and in three weeks he found little or no
difficulty in standing erect while his horse went around the ring at his
fastest gait. After that had been accomplished his progress was more
rapid, and he gave promise of becoming a very good rider--a fact which
pleased both Mr. Castle and Mr. Lord very much, as they fancied that in
another year Toby would be the source of a very good income to them.

The proprietor of the circus took considerable interest in Toby's
instruction, and promised Mr. Castle that