e was. He was
more than usually careful about the kindling-wood and the water, and
when his mother spoke to him so kindly, he had the greatest difficulty
in keeping his secret.

It was only the thought that he was by no means "running away," that
prevented him from telling his mother what he intended to do. He argued
with himself that he was only going to uncle Robert's on business, and
that he should return the day after he arrived there; that would be
entirely different from running away.

During the evening Dan worked hard at a message which he was to leave
for his parents, feeling obliged to take every precaution lest they
should see what he was about, and, after the most painful efforts he
succeeded in printing this note:

CRIP & ME HAVE GORNE TO UNKLE ROBERTS TO GET HIM TO COME UP HERE TO
KOAX YOU NOT TO KILL CRIP. WE WILL COME RIGHT BACK.

DANIEL K. HARDY.

Dan had six cents which he had earned carrying milk, and his
preparations for the journey consisted simply in putting these in his
pocket, together with some corn for Crippy, and in placing the little
clock and some matches by the side of his bed, so that he might be able
to tell when the proper time had come for him to start.

Perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Hardy were surprised by Dan's unusually
affectionate manner when he bade them good-night; but if they were,
nothing was said about it, and the inmates of the Hardy farmhouse
retired on the night before the proposed execution of poor Crippy at the
usual early hour of nine o'clock.

Dan's idea was to lie awake until three in the morning, then steal
cautiously out of the house, get Crippy, and start. But it was much
harder work to remain awake than he had fancied, and before he had been
in bed an hour he was sleeping soundly.

But even though his eyes persisted in closing despite his will, Dan did
not sleep very long at a time. He was awake at least every half-hour,
and his small stock of matches was exhausted as early as two o'clock.
With no means of procuring a light, it would be impossible for him to
know when the time had come, and, since he did not dare to go to sleep
again, he concluded it would be better to set out at once than run the
risk of delaying until his father should awaken.

During the time he was making very awkward attempts to dress himself in
the darkness, his fingers trembling violently both from fear and the
cold, he fancied each moment that he could hear his parents movi