This was bad enough, but then he rolled against Prince's hind foot, a little stunned by the fall. Father saw Bobby fall and ran toward him, thinking as he ran, "Oh, what if Prince steps on Bobby or kicks him?" And Father ran faster than he had ever run before. But there Prince stood and kept his foot as still as still could be, until Father came and pulled Bobby away. Then Prince started on to the barn. "Are you hurt?" asked Father. "Not much," replied Bobby, as he rubbed his bruises. Father helped him get the thistles out of his bare feet and legs. There were sixteen. "That was a grand ride, though," said Bobby. They went to the barn together and came up to Prince at the watering-trough. Father took Prince's face in his two hands and in his kindest voice said, "You are a wonderful horse, Prince. Thank you for being careful of my Bobby. You shall have some extra oats to-day." When Sue was told about it, she found another blue ribbon and tied it on Prince's bridle. [Illustration: THE BIG SOUTH WINDOW] XIV Mother's favorite place in all the house was by the big window in the sitting-room. It was on the south side of the house; so they called it the Big South Window. On bright days the sun shone through it and flooded the sitting-room with golden sunshine. From it Mother could see green fields near by and purple hills in the distance and the blue sky over all. "I love my Big South Window," she often said. She sat there to do the sewing and mending. She sat there to read and sometimes just to enjoy the view--orchard and woods, green fields and the big elm tree, purple hills and blue sky. One day in Autumn, a letter came to Mother from her sister. "Please come and make me a visit," the letter said. "I do not see how I can go," said Mother. "There are so many things to be done here." "Oh, yes, you must go," said Father. "You have not had a vacation in a long time. We'll get Aunt Martha to come and keep house." "I'll look after the chickens and the ducks," said Bobby. "And I'll keep the wood box full for Aunt Martha." So one day in October Mother said good-by and went away on her long journey. She was to be gone three weeks. From the very first, Bobby missed her greatly. Most of all he missed her at evening, when she was not there to tell him a good-night story. But for the first week he stood it very well, his extra chores helping to pass the time away. After that it seemed such a long time since he _had_ seen her, and such a very long time until he _would_ see her, that he could scarcely wait. Every morning he counted the days until she would come home. When the second week had passed, he could say, "Only seven more days until Mother comes home." That day, after he had fed the chickens and ducks and filled the wood box, he went into the sitting-room and sat in Mother's rocker and looked out through her favorite window. Then he noticed how dirty it was.