ne!"

"Good boy," said Mackenzie with a paternal smile, waving the boy on
his way while he betook himself to the bluff side and there supine,
continued at intervals to direct the operation of harrowing.

The sun grew hot. The cool morning breeze dropped flat, and as the
hours passed the boy grew weary and footsore, travelling the soft
furrows. Mackenzie had long ceased issuing his directions, and had
subsided into smiling silence, contenting himself with a friendly
wave of the hand as Kalman made the turn. The poor spiritless
horses moved more and more slowly, and at length, coming to the
end of the field, refused to move farther.

"Let them stand a bit, Callum boy," said Mackenzie kindly.
"Come and have a rest. You are the fine driver. Come and sit down."

"Will the horses stand here?" asked Kalman, whose sense of
responsibility deepened as he became aware of Mackenzie's
growing incapacity.

Mackenzie laughed pleasantly. "Will they stand? Yes, and that
they will, unless they will lie down."

Kalman approached and regarded him with the eye of an expert.

"Look here, where's your stuff?" said the boy at length.

Mackenzie gazed at him with the innocence of childhood.

"What iss it?"

"Oh, come off your perch! you blamed old rooster! Where's your
bottle?"

"What iss this?" said Mackenzie, much affronted. "You will be
calling me names?"

As he rose in his indignation a bottle fell from his pocket. Kalman
made a dash toward it, but Mackenzie was too quick for him. With a
savage curse he snatched up the bottle, and at the same time made a
fierce but unsuccessful lunge at the boy.

"You little deevil!" he said fiercely, "I will be knocking your
head off!"

Kalman jibed at him. "You are a nice sort of fellow to be on a job.
What will your boss say?"

Mackenzie's face changed instantly.

"The boss?" he said, glancing in the direction of the house.
"The boss? What iss the harm of a drop when you are not well?"

"You not well!" exclaimed Kalman scornfully.

Mackenzie shook his head sadly, sinking back upon the grass. "It iss
many years now since I have suffered with an indisposeetion of the
bowels. It iss a coalic, I am thinking, and it iss hard on me. But,
Callum, man, it will soon be denner time. Just put your horses in
and I will be following you."

But Kalman knew better than that.

"I don't know how to put in your horses. Come and put them in
yourself, or show me how to do it." He was indignant wi