ts to it.

Once, when he ventured to talk with his father about letting him buy a
broadcloth suit, or having the cart painted, his father stood as if
petrified, and he thought the old man would have a stroke. He tried to
make his father understand that, when he had a fine horse to drive, he
should look presentable himself.

The father made no reply, but two days later he took the horse to Oerebro
and sold it.

It was cruel of him. But it was plain that his father had feared that
this horse might lead him into vanity and extravagance. And now, so long
afterward, he had to admit that his father was right. A horse like that
surely would have been a temptation. At first he had grieved terribly
over his loss. Many a time he had gone down to Oerebro, just to stand on
a street corner and see the horse pass by, or to steal into the stable
and give him a lump of sugar. He thought: "If I ever get the farm, the
first thing I do will be to buy back my horse."

Now his father was gone and he himself had been master for two years,
but he had not made a move toward buying the horse. He had not thought
of him for ever so long, until to-night.

It was strange that he should have forgotten the beast so entirely!

His father had been a very headstrong, domineering man. When his son was
grown and the two had worked together, the father had gained absolute
power over him. The boy had come to think that everything his father did
was right, and, after he became the master, he only tried to do exactly
as his father would have done.

He knew, of course, that folk said his father was stingy; but it was
well to keep a tight hold on one's purse and not throw away money
needlessly. The goods one has received should not be wasted. It was
better to live on a debt-free place and be called stingy, than to carry
heavy mortgages, like other farm owners.

He had gone so far in his mind when he was called back by a strange
sound. It was as if a shrill, mocking voice were repeating his thoughts:
"It's better to keep a firm hold on one's purse and be called stingy,
than to be in debt, like other farm owners."

It sounded as if some one was trying to make sport of his wisdom and he
was about to lose his temper, when he realized that it was all a
mistake. The wind was beginning to rage, and he had been standing there
getting so sleepy that he mistook the howling of the wind in the chimney
for human speech.

He glanced up at the wall clock, which ju