When he found his head was turned toward his home, the horse set off at a great rate. "Hi there!" cried Podington. "I am I am so sorry I lost my whip." "Whip!" said Buller, holding fast to the side of the seat; "surely you don't want him to go any faster than this. And look here, William," he added, "it seems to me we are much more likely to take cold in our wet clothes if we rush through the air in this way. Really, it seems to me that horse is running away." "Not a bit of it," cried Podington. "He wants to get home, and he wants his dinner. Isn't he a fine horse? Look how he steps out!" "Steps out!" said Buller, "I think I'd like to step out myself. Don't you think it would be wiser for me to walk home, William ? That will warm me up." 66 It will take you an hour," said his friend. "Stay where you are, and I'll have you in a dry suit of clothes in less than fifteen minutes." "I tell you, William," said Mr. Bul and in spite of his recent unfortunate water experience he would not break his word. He went to Mr. Buller's sea-side home at the time appointed. Early on the morning after his arrival, before the family were up, Mr. Podington went out and strolled down to the edge of the bay. He went to look at Buller's boat. He was well aware that he would be asked to take a sail, and as Buller had driven with him, it would be impossible for him to decline sailing with Buller; but he must see They fished from the end of a pier, they smoked, they talked, and were happy and content.-Page 230. ler, as the two sat smoking after dinner, "what you ought to do; you should never go out driving without a life-preserver and a pair of oars; I always take them. It would make you feel safer." Mr. Buller went home the next day, because Mr. Podington's clothes did not fit him, and his own out-door suit was so shrunken as to be uncomfortable. Besides, there was another reason, connected with the desire of horses to reach their homes, which prompted his return. But he had not forgotten his compact with his friend, and in the course of a week he wrote to Podington, inviting him to spend some days with him. Mr. Podington was a man of honor, the boat. There was a train for his home at a quarter past seven; if he were not on the premises he could not be asked to sail. If Buller's boat were a little, flimsy thing, he would take that train-but he would wait and see. There was only one small boat anchored near the beach, and a man -apparently a fisherman-informed Mr. Podington that it belonged to Mr. Buller. Podington looked at it eagerly; it was not very small and not flimsy. "Do you consider that a safe boat?" he asked the fisher man. "You could "Safe?" replied the man. not upset her if you tried. Look at her breadth of beam! You could go anywhere in that boat! Are you thinking of buying her? The idea that he would think of buying a boat made Mr. Podington laugh. The information that it would be impossible to upset the little vessel had greatly cheered him, and he could laugh. Shortly after breakfast Mr. Buller, like a nurse with a dose of medicine, came to Mr. Podington with the expected invitation to take a sail. "Now, William," said his host, "I understand perfectly your feeling about boats, The bargain was made, and Mr. Buller joyfully returned to his boat with the intelligence that they were not to wait for the canal-boats. A long rope, with a horse attached to the other end of it, was speed and what I wish to prove to you is that it is a feeling without any foundation. I don't want to shock you or make you nervous, so I am not going to take you out to-day on the bay in my boat. You are as safe on the bay as you would be on land- -aily made fast to the boat, and with a boy little safer, perhaps, under certain circum- at the head of the horse, they started up stances, to which we will not allude-but the canal. still it is sometimes a little rough, and this, at first, might cause you some uneasiness, and so I am going to let you begin your education in the sailing line on perfectly smooth water. About three miles back of us there is a very pretty lake several miles long. It is part of the canal system which connects the town with the railroad. I have sent my boat to the town, and we can walk up there and go by the canal to the lake; it is only about three miles." If he had to sail at all, this kind of sailing suited Mr. Podington. A canal, a quiet lake, and a boat which could not be upset. When they reached the town the boat was in the canal, ready for them. "Now," said Mr. Buller, "you get in and make yourself comfortable. My idea is to hitch on to a canal-boat and be towed to the lake. The boats generally start about this time in the morning, and I will go and see about it." Mr. Podington, under the direction of his friend, took a seat in the stern of the sailboat, and then he remarked: Thomas, have you a life-preserver on board? You know I am not used to any kind of vessel, and I am clumsy. Nothing might happen to the boat, but I might trip and fall overboard, and I can't swim." "All right," said Buller; "here's a lifepreserver, and you can put it on. I want you to feel perfectly safe. Now I will go and see about the tow." But Mr. Buller found that the canalboats would not start at their usual time; the loading of one of them was not finished, and he was informed that he might have to wait for an hour or more. This did not suit Mr. Buller at all, and he did not hesitate to show his annoyance. "I tell you, sir, what you can do," said one of the men in charge of the boats; "if you don't want to wait till we are ready to start, we'll let you have a boy and a horse to tow you up to the lake. That won't cost you much, and they'll be back before we want 'em." Now this is the kind of sailing I like," said Mr. Podington. "If I lived near a canal I believe I would buy a boat and train my horse to tow. I could have a long pair of rope-lines and drive him myself; then when the roads were rough and bad the canal would always be smooth." "This is all very nice," replied Mr. Buller, who sat by the tiller to keep the boat away from the bank, “and I am glad to see you in a boat under any circumstances. Do you know, William, that although I did not plan it, there could not have been a better way to begin your sailing education. Here we glide along, slowly and gently, with no possible thought of danger, for if the boat should suddenly spring a leak, as if it were the body of a wagon, all we would have to do would be to step on shore, and by the time you get to the end of the canal you will like this gentle motion so much that you will be perfectly ready to begin the second stage of your nautical education." 66 Yes," said Mr. Podington. "How long did you say this canal is ?" "About three miles," answered his friend. "Then we will go into the lock and in a few minutes we shall be on the lake." "So far as I am concerned," said Mr. Podington, "I wish the canal were twelve miles long. I cannot imagine anything pleasanter than this. If I lived anywhere near a canal—a long canal I mean, this one is too short—I'd "Come, come now," interrupted Buller, "Don't be content to stay in the primary school just because it is easy. When we get on the lake I will show you that in a boat, with a gentle breeze, such as we are likely to have to-day, you will find the motion quite as pleasing, and ever so much more inspiriting. I should not be a bit surprised, William, if after you have been two or three times on the lake, you will ask me—yes, positively ask me-to take you out on the bay!" Mr. Podington smiled, and leaning backward, he looked up at the beautiful try to loosen the knot with the other; but blue sky. "You can't give me anything better than this, Thomas," said he; "but you needn't think I am weakening; you drove with me, and I will sail with you." The thought came into Buller's mind that he had done both of these things with Podington, but he did not wish to call up unpleasant memories, and said nothing. About half a mile from the town there stood a small cottage where house-cleaning was going on, and on a fence, not far from the canal, there hung a carpet gayly adorned with stripes and spots of red and yellow. came When the drowsy tow-horse abreast of the house, and the carpet caught his eye, he suddenly stopped and gave a start toward the canal. Then, impressed with a horror of the glaring apparition, he gathered himself up, and with a bound dashed along the tow-path. The astounded boy gave a shout, but was speedily left behind. The boat of Mr. Buller shot forward as if she had been struck by a squall. The terrified horse sped on as if a red and yellow demon were after him. The boat bounded, and plunged, and frequently struck the grassy bank of the canal, as if it would break itself to pieces. Mr. Podington clutched the boom to keep himself from being thrown out, while Mr. Buller, both hands upon the tiller, frantically endeavored to keep the boat from the bank. "William!" he screamed, "he is running away with us; we shall be dashed to pieces! Can't you get forward and cast off that line?" "What do you mean?" cried Podington, as the boom gave a great jerk as if it would break its fastenings and drag him overboard. "I mean untie the tow-line. We'll be smashed if you don't! I can't leave this tiller. Don't try to stand up; hold on to the boom and creep forward. Steady now, or you'll be overboard!" Mr. Podington stumbled to the bow of the boat, his efforts greatly impeded by the big cork life-preserver tied under his arms, and the motion of the boat was so violent and erratic that he was obliged to hold on to the mast with one arm and to VOL. XXII.-25 there was a great strain on the rope, and he could do nothing with one hand. "Cut it! Cut it!" cried Mr. Buller. "I haven't a knife," replied Podington. Mr. Buller was terribly frightened; his boat was cutting through the water as never vessel of her class had sped since sail-boats were invented, and bumping against the bank as if she were a billiardball rebounding from the edge of a table. He forgot he was in a boat; he only knew that for the first time in his life he was in a runaway. He let go the tiller. It was of no use to him. William," he cried, "let us jump out the next time we are near enough to shore !" "Don't do that! Don't do that!" replied Podington. "Don't jump out in a runaway; that is the way to get hurt. Stick to your seat, my boy; he can't keep this up much longer. He'll lose his wind!" Mr. Podington was greatly excited, but he was not frightened, as Buller was. He had been in a runaway before, and he could not help thinking how much better a wagon was than a boat in such a case. "If he were hitched up shorter and I had a snaffle-bit and a stout pair of reins," thought he, "I could soon bring him up.” But Mr. Buller was rapidly losing his wits. The horse seemed to be going faster than ever. The boat bumped harder against the bank, and at one time Buller thought they would turn over. Suddenly a thought struck him. "William," he shouted, "tip that anchor over the side! Throw it in, any way!" Mr. Podington looked about him, and, almost under his feet, saw the anchor. He did not instantly comprehend why Buller wanted it thrown overboard, but this was not a time to ask questions. The difficulties imposed by the life-preserver, and the necessity of holding on with one hand, interfered very much with his getting at the anchor and throwing it over the side, but at last he succeeded, and just as the boat threw up her bow as if she were about to jump on shore, the anchor went out and its line shot after it. There was an irregular trembling of the boat as the anchor struggled along the bottom of the canal; then there was a great shock; the boat ran into the bank and stopped; the tow-line was tightened like a guitarstring, and the horse, jerked back with great violence, came tumbling in a heap upon the ground. Instantly Mr. Podington was on the shore and running at the top of his speed toward the horse. The astounded animal had scarcely begun to struggle to his feet when Podington rushed upon him, pressed his head back to the ground, and sat upon it. "Hurrah!" he cried, waving his hat above his head. "Get out, Buller; he is all right now!" Presently Mr. Buller approached, very and could not help joining in the laughter much shaken up. of the boys. "All right? "" he said. "I don't call a horse flat in a road with a man on his head all right; but hold him down till we get him loose from my boat. That is the thing to do. William, cast him loose from the boat before you let him up! What will he do when he gets up?" "Oh, he'll be quiet enough when he gets up," said Podington. "But if you've got a knife you can cut his traces—I mean that rope-but no, you needn't. Here comes the boy. We'll settle this business in very short order now." When the horse was on his feet, and all connection between the animal and the boat had been severed, Mr. Podington looked at his friend. "Thomas," said he, "you seem to have had a hard time of it. You have lost your hat and you look as if you had been in a wrestling match." "I have," replied the other; "I wrestled with that tiller and I wonder it didn't throw me out." Now approached the boy. "Shall I hitch him on again, sir?" said he. "He's quiet enough now." "No," cried Mr. Buller; "I want no more sailing after a horse, and, besides, we can't go on the lake with that boat; she has been battered about so much that she must have opened a dozen seams. The best thing we can do is to walk home." Mr. Podington agreed with his friend that walking home was the best thing they could do. The boat was examined and found to be leaking, but not very badly, and when her mast had been unshipped and everything had been made tight and right on board, she was pulled out of the way of tow-lines and boats, and made fast "By George! I forgot all about this," said Podington, as he unfastened the cork jacket. "It does look a little super-timid to wear a life-preserver just because one happens to be walking by the side of a canal.” Mr. Buller tied a handkerchief on his head, and Mr. Podington rolled up his life-preserver and carried it under his arm. Thus they reached the town, where Buller bought a hat, Podington dispensed with his bundle, and arrangements were made to bring back the boat. 66 Runaway in a sail-boat!" exclaimed one of the canal boatmen when he had heard about the accident. "Upon my word! That beats anything that could happen to a man!" "No, it doesn't," replied Mr. Buller, quietly. "I have gone to the bottom in a foundered road-wagon." The man looked at him fixedly. "Was you ever stuck in the mud in a balloon ?" he asked. "Not yet," replied Mr. Buller. It required ten days to put Mr. Buller's sail-boat into proper condition, and for ten days Mr. Podington stayed with his friend, and enjoyed his visit very much. They strolled on the beach, they took long walks in the back country, they fished from the end of a pier, they smoked, they talked, and were happy and content. "Thomas," said Mr. Podington, on the last evening of his stay, "I have enjoyed myself very much since I have been down here, and now, Thomas, if I were to come down again next summer, would you mind-would you mind, not 66 I would not mind it a bit," replied Buller, promptly. "I'll never so much as mention it; so you can come along without |