ast a man, and much slower,
with more of a turn out, if it was a team. But I dare say father told
you this. He has a great stock of horse stories, and I am almost as bad.
You will have to cry 'halt,' when we bore you."

"You never do," replied Miss Laura. "I love to talk about animals. I
think the best story about Cleve and Pacer is the one that uncle told me
last evening. I don't think you were there. It was about stealing the
oats."

"Cleve and Pacer never steal," said Mr. Harry. "Don't you mean Scamp?
She's the thief."

"No, it was Pacer that stole. He got out of his box, uncle says, and
found two bags of oats, and he took one in his teeth and dropped it
before Cleve, and ate the other himself, and uncle was so amused that he
let them eat a long time, and stood and watched them."

"That _was_ a clever trick," said Mr. Harry. "Father must have forgotten
to tell me. Those two horses have been mates ever since I can remember,
and I believe if they were separated, they'd pine away and die. You have
noticed how low the partitions are between the boxes in the horse
stable. Father says you wouldn't put a lot of people in separate boxes
in a room, where they couldn't see each other, and horses are just as
fond of company as we are. Cleve and Pacer are always nosing each other.
A horse has a long memory. Father has had horses recognize him, that he
has been parted from for twenty years. Speaking of their memories
reminds me of another good story about Pacer that I never heard till
yesterday, and that I would not talk about to any one but you and
mother. Father wouldn't write me about it, for he never will put a line
on paper where any one's reputation is concerned."

* * * * *

CHAPTER XXVI

THE BOX OF MONEY

"This story," said Mr. Harry, "is about one of the hired men we had last
winter, whose name was Jacobs. He was a cunning fellow, with a hangdog
look, and a great cleverness at stealing farm produce from father on the
sly, and selling it. Father knew perfectly well what he was doing, and
was wondering what would be the best way to deal with him, when one day
something happened that brought matters to a climax.

"Father had to go to Sudbury for farming tools, and took Pacer and the
cutter. There are two ways of going there--one the Sudbury Road, and the
other the old Post Road, which is longer and seldom used. On this
occasion father took the Post Road. The snow w