"And now, little secretary," he said, in his old cheery way, "I do believe I could do some work if I tried. It’s only a question of will-power. Come, dip your pen in the ink, and write as quickly as you can." He dictated for nearly an hour, and then Joan slipped off quickly home. Up in her little bedroom it was all in vain that she chased the tears from her face. They came again, and they came again. "He has seen that I love him," she sobbed. "And that was his dear kind way of telling me that I was a foolish little child. Of course I was a foolish little child, but I couldn’t help it! Indeed I couldn’t help it. And I must go on crying. No one need know." So she went on crying, and no one knew. *CHAPTER XI.* *HIERONYMUS GOES.* They were captured, those little wretches, the hill-ponies, having been chased down from all directions, and gathered together in the enclosure set apart for their imprisonment. There they were, cribbed, cabined, and confined, some of them distressed, and all of them highly indignant at the rough treatment which they had received. This gathering together of the wild ponies occurred two or three times in the year, when the owners assembled to identify their particular herd, and to reimpress their mark on the ponies which belonged to them. It was no easy matter to drive them down from the hills; though indeed they came down willingly enough at night to seek what they might devour. Then one might hear their little feet pattering quickly over the ground, helter-skelter! The villagers were well accustomed to the sound. "It’s only the hill-ponies, the rascals!" they would say. But when they were wanted, they would not come. They led the beaters a rare dance over hill and dale; but it always ended in the same way. Then, after four or five years of life on the hills, their owners sold them, and that was the end of all their fun, and all their shagginess too. Hieronymus stood near the enclosure watching the proceedings with the greatest interest. The men were trying to divide the ponies into groups, according to the mark on their backs. But this was no easy matter either; the little creatures kicked and threw themselves about in every direction but the right one, and they were so strong that their struggles were generally successful. The sympathies of Hieronymus went with the rebels, and he was much distressed when he saw three men hanging on to the tail of one of the ponies, and trying to keep him back from another group. "I say, you there!" he cried, waving his stick. "I can’t stand that." Mrs. Benbow, who was standing near him, laughed, and called him to order. "Now don’t you be meddling with what you don’t understand," she said. "You may know a good deal about books, but it’s not much you’ll know about hill-ponies." "That’s quite true," said Hieronymus humbly. "Come along with me now," commanded Mrs. Benbow, "and help me buy a red pig!"