t of the crime charged upon him,
interfered to save him from the consequences of the squire's wrath.

Mr. Nason, finding that his young friend was likely to suffer for his
magnanimity, explained the matter--thus turning the squire's anger
from the boy to himself.

"So you helped the boy run away--did you?" said the overseer.

"He did not; he told me that money would keep me from starving."

"Did he?"

Those present understood the allusion, and the squire did not press
the matter any further. In the course of the examination, Ben Smart
had often been alluded to, and the crime was fastened upon him. Harry
told his story, which, confirmed by the evidence of the hired man,
was fully credited by all except the squire, who had conceived a
violent antipathy to the boy.

The examination was informal; the squire did not hold it as a justice
of the peace, but only as a citizen, or, at most, as an overseer of
the poor. However, it proved that, as the burning of the barn had been
planned before any difficulty had occurred between the squire and
Harry, he had no motive for doing the deed.

The squire was not satisfied; but the worst he could do was to commit
Harry to the care of Jacob Wire, which was immediately done.

"I am sorry for you, Harry," whispered Mr. Nason.

"Never mind; I shall _try again_," he replied, as he jumped into the
wagon with his persecutor.

CHAPTER VII

IN WHICH HARRY FINDS HIMSELF IN A TIGHT PLACE AND EXECUTES A COUNTER
MOVEMENT

"Jacob, here is the boy," said Squire Walker, as he stopped his horse
in front of an old, decayed house.

Jacob Wire was at work in his garden, by the side of the house; and
when the squire spoke, he straightened his back, regarding Harry with
a look of mingled curiosity and distrust. He evidently did not like
his appearance. He looked as though he would eat too much; and to a
man as mean as Jacob, this was the sum total of all enormities.
Besides, the little pauper had earned a bad reputation within the
preceding twenty-four hours, and his new master glanced uneasily at
his barn, and then at the boy, as though he deemed it unsafe to have
such a desperate character about his premises.

"He is a hard boy, Jacob, and will need a little taming. They fed him
too high at the poorhouse," continued the squire.

"That spoils boys," replied Jacob, solemnly.

"So it does."

"So, this is the boy that burnt your barn?"

"Well, I don't know. I rather think it was