26
THE COUNTRY BOY
distance of twelve miles, with the buggy, and never was the vehicle injured. They used to take his bridle off and tie a card, explaining, on the back band of his harness, so that if he met strangers they wouldn’t stop him, and
those who knew him only spoke to him and smiled as he passed. Sometimes if he struck a good patch of clover in the fence corner, he would be a little late whinnying at the gate; but he never failed. Once on his return he made the philosopher of the place think, as he came home with pond lilies in the floor of the buggy. There were no ponds or streams in the Waldo Hills containing pond lilies, nor were there any in Salem, and it required deep thought.
He had gotten home so late that the only
