Harney tried to smile, but the laugh died on his lips, as, springing to his feet, Hugh, with one blow, felled him to the floor, exclaiming, “Thus do I resent the insult offered to Adah Hastings, as pure and true a woman as your own sister. Villain!” and he shook fiercely his prostrate foe struggling to rise. Some men are decidedly better for being knocked down, and Harney was one of them. Feminine in figure and cowardly in disposition, he knew he was no match for the broad, athletic Hugh, and shaking down his pants when permitted to stand upright, he muttered something about “hearing from him again.” Then, as the sight of the unpaid bill brought back to his mind the cause of his present unpleasant predicament he returned to the attack, by saying, “Since you are not inclined to part with either of your pets, you’ll oblige me with the money, and before to-morrow night. You understand me, I presume?” “I do,” and bowing haughtily, Hugh passed through the open door. In a kind of desperation he mounted Rocket, and dashed out of town at a speed which made more than one look after him, wondering what cause there was for his headlong haste. A few miles from the city he slacked his speed, and dismounting by a running brook, sat down to think. The price offered for Lulu would set him free from every pressing debt, and leave a large surplus, but not for a moment did he hesitate. “I’d lead her out and shoot her through the heart, before I’d do that,” he said. Then turning to the noble animal cropping the grass beside him, he wound his arms around his neck, and tried to imagine how it would seem to know the stall at home was empty, and Rocket gone. He could not sell him, he said, as he looked into the creature’s eyes, meeting there an expression almost human, as Rocket rubbed his nose against his sleeve, and uttered a peculiar sound. “If I could pawn him,” he thought, just as the sound of wheels was heard, and he saw old Colonel Tiffton driving down the turnpike. Stopping suddenly as he caught sight of Hugh, the colonel called out cheerily, “How d’ye, young man? What are you doing there by the brook? Huggin’ your horse, as I live! Well, I don’t wonder. That’s a fine nag of yours. My Nell is nigh about crazy for me to buy him. What’ll you take?”