The president looked very much amused, and said, "We have had
some good stories about monkeys, now let us have some more
about our home animals. Who can tell us another story about a
horse?"

Three or four boys jumped up, but the president said they would
take one at a time. The first one was this: A Riverdale boy was
walking along the bank of a canal in Hoytville. He saw a boy
driving two horses, which were towing a canal-boat. The first
horse was lazy, and the boy got angry and struck him several times
over the head with his whip. The Riverdale boy shouted across to
him, begging him not to be so cruel; but the boy paid no attention.
Suddenly the horse turned, seized his tormentor by the shoulder,
and pushed him into the canal. The water was not deep, and the
boy, after floundering about for a few seconds, came out dripping
with mud and filth, and sat down on the tow path, and looked at
the horse with such a comical expression, that the Riverdale boy
had to stuff his handkerchief in his mouth to keep from laughing.

"It is to be hoped that he would learn a lesson," said the president,
"and be kinder to his horse in the future. Now, Bernard Howe, your
story."

The boy was a brother to the little girl who had told the monkey
story, and he, too, had evidently been talking to his grandfather. He
told two stories, and Miss Laura listened eagerly, for they were
about Fairport.

The boy said that when his grandfather was young, he lived in
Fairport, Maine. On a certain day he stood in the market square to