the constrained position in which he was
lying, that he could not get up, and the man could not extricate him.
The man had gone behind, and had drawn the wagon back, so as to loosen
the pressure of the harness upon the horse, but, until Forester and
Marco came, there was no one to unbuckle the straps when they were thus
loosened; and, if the man let go of the wagon, to go and unbuckle the
harness, it was drawn back again at once by the tension of the straps,
and made as tight as before.

He was, therefore, very glad to see Forester and Marco coming. He asked
them to come and help him.

Forester and Marco were immediately going to attempt to unbuckle the
harness, but the man told them that there was danger of their getting
kicked by the horse, in case he should suddenly begin to struggle.

"Come here," said the man, "and hold the wagon back and I will loosen
the harness."

By means of this plan of operations, the horse was soon liberated from
his confinement, and he got up. The man seemed very thankful to Forester
and Marco, and he asked them where they were going.

"We are going to No. 3," said Forester. "Is this the right way?"

The townships in a new country are _numbered_ at first, not named. The
place to which Marco and Forester were going had yet very few
inhabitants, and it had no name but No. 3.

"Yes," replied the man, "this is the right road. I wish I was going that
way, I would take you along in my wagon."

This answer puzzled Marco a little, on two accounts. First, the man
_was_ going the same way with them, but then Marco thought that,
perhaps, he was going to turn off, pretty soon, into some other road.
Then, secondly, he did not see how the man could possibly carry him and
Forester, in any event, as the wagon seemed completely filled with bags,
and kegs, and firkins, leaving scarcely room for the man himself to sit.

Forester told the man that they could walk very well; but he said that
they were hungry, and if the man had anything to eat, in his wagon, they
should be glad to buy something of him.

"Yes," replied the man, "I've a loaf of bread that I can spare, and a
jug of milk."

"That will be just the thing," said Marco.

At first, the man was not willing to receive anything for the bread and
milk, but as Forester insisted upon it, he consented to take a little
pay. He then told Forester that he had some honey in his wagon, and a
few apples, and Forester bought a supply of these. At first,