Now, again, in sight of them all, the boy succeeded in stopping the horse, in turning his head, and forcing him to reascend the hill; and once more the horse whirled about and plunged down the road toward the house. This time, however, he received no check. The boy, as if in weariness and despair, allowed the reins to droop. The animal sped on, and the next moment both were hidden behind the trees at the bend of the road. Mr. Gaston, shading his eyes with his hand, still stood gazing intently at the place where horse and rider had disappeared. Mrs. Gaston’s white face and eager eyes, fixed on the point where the road came out of the grove, showed that she divined the truth. “It is Joe!” she said, with forced calmness. “He is coming home!” Then Old Charlie, with his young master on his back, bounded into sight, and presently boy and horse were in the midst of the group. The next moment Joe was kneeling in the road, with his father’s hand clasped in both his. “Father!” he said, “will you please forgive me and let me come home?” Before the father could reply, the arms of Joe’s mother were around him, and Jennie was laughing and crying and clinging to his neck. Then the good old horse, pushing his nose in among the four faces that he loved, met with a welcome that was no less sincere. “He made me come,” explained Joe, a minute later. “I got to the top of the hill, and my courage gave out, and I didn’t dare come down, and I thought I would ride back on the road a piece farther, and then turn the horse loose and let him come home, while I went on afoot; but Old Charlie would come, whether or no, and--” Joe’s voice gave out. Every one cried a little. Even Squire Bidwell and the deputy sheriff and Callipers had tears in their eyes. Mr. Gaston’s face, even with the tear-marks on it, was radiant. Soon the squire and the deputy sheriff, with their prisoner, Callipers, drove off toward the county seat. Then the whole Gaston family went with Old Charlie to the stable, and gave him his supper and his bed before seeking their own. Joe’s father and mother and sister were happy people that night. THE END. The Sunshine Library for Young People This admirable line of books for young people contains some of the choicest stories for children ever written. The volumes are well printed, illustrated with frontispieces, and attractively bound in new styles, with separate designs by the best artists for each cover. _8vo. Per vol. $0.50_