refused to leave the old man. Pickaxes and shovels were set
heartily to work, and after half an hour's hard toil, the old man was
gently raised out of his dangerous position, and placed in the cart. Roy
was put in with him, and Dudley walked by the side in silence until they
reached the village. There was a great stir and excitement over their
return. Mrs. Selby and their aunt met the boys at the entrance of the
village, and Miss Bertram looked anxiously at Roy's little white set
face.

He could not be torn away from his old friend till he heard the doctor's
verdict, and it was a far more hopeful one than anybody had anticipated.

"It is a marvellous escape. Not a bone broken, but of course he is
terribly bruised and shaken, and very stiff."

"I'll sit with him till we can get a proper nurse," said good-natured
Mrs. Selby; "he seems to have no kith or kin belonging to him. It will
be a lesson to him, for life, I hope, and will put a stop to all this
delving and digging and unearthing what is best left alone. It only
fosters scepticism in the minds of the ignorant, and teaches them to
disbelieve their Bibles!"

Old Principle looked up with a smile after the doctor's visit.

"Is little Master Roy there?"

Roy pressed forward eagerly.

"I'm thinking, laddie, that you and Master Dudley have had a rare good
opportunity of saving a poor old man's life, and he is duly grateful to
you."

But Roy was very near tears.

"I'm so glad--so glad your legs aren't broken," he said, in a quivering
voice, "anything is better than being suddenly turned into a cripple!"

And then bending over him he kissed the furrowed brow, and crept out of
the room.

XIV

HEROES

Old Principle's accident was a great event in the village. The boys got
their fair share of praise in his rescue, but their grandmother did not
see it in such a favorable light.

"You ought never to have left your lessons without leave, or taken a
cart belonging to a stranger all unknown to him, or gone off alone
without telling any one about it. And you were shown the folly and
uselessness of such a proceeding by arriving on the scene and being
utterly unable to extricate him from his position. If children would
realize their weakness and foolishness more in these days, they would
develop into better men and women, but self-sufficiency and self-conceit
are signs of the times!"

Every day the boys went to see their friend, and even Mrs. Selby allowed