stiff and cold--as dead as a door nail.

"Poisoned!" ejaculated Marcy. "And to think that I was on the point of
kicking the poor beast! I deserve to be kicked myself for doubting him.
The chap who rode into the yard to-night to inquire the way to Nashville
is the villain who is to blame for this. He is the fellow who captained
the robbers to-night, and no doubt he was feeding Bose something, when I
thought he was trying to quiet him. Poor old Bose!"

The boy's heart was heavy as he faced about and went into the house,
where he found his mother pacing the floor, more frightened and agitated
now than she had been at any time while in the presence of the robbers.
She laid her head on Marcy's shoulder, and cried softly as he put his
arm around her and led her to a seat.

"What's the good of taking on so now that the trouble is all over?" said
he. "But that's always the way with a woman. She will stand up to the
rack when there is need of it, and cry when there is nothing to cry for.
What's the use of doing that?"

"Marcy," said his mother, "did I not tell you to let that money alone?"

"No, ma'am; you said you were afraid that if I tried to take it to a new
place some one would catch me at it; but I wasn't afraid. I was sure I
could do it without being seen, I knew you would sleep better if it was
put somewhere else, and so, while you and every one on the plantation,
except the man who was helping me, were in the land of Nod, I took the
bags out of the cellar wall and put them where nobody will ever think of
looking for them. Whenever you want any of it say the word, and I will
see that you get it; and in the meantime, if you are asked where it is,
you can truthfully say that you don't know."

"But, Marcy, the events of the night, which seem more like a terrible
dream than a reality, prove conclusively that the story has got abroad;
and I don't see how I can muster up the courage to pass another night in
this house," said Mrs. Gray with a shudder. "How could they have got in
without alarming Bose?"

"Poor old Bose will never act as our sentry again," replied the boy,
with tears of genuine sorrow in his eyes; and then he went on to tell
how he had found the companion and friend of his childhood dead at his
post, and his mother said that she would willingly surrender the money,
that had been nothing but a source of trouble to her ever since she drew
it from the bank, if by so doing she could bring Bose back to life
ag