A Tale of
the Tow-Path
NEW YORK
PUBLISHERS
Copyright, 1892,
By Perry Mason & Co.
Copyright, 1892,
By T. Y. Crowell & Co.
CONTENTS.
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
|---|---|---|
| I. | The Result of a Whipping | 1 |
| II. | Who Took Old Charlie? | 19 |
| III. | On The Canal | 37 |
| IV. | Captain Bill Buys a Horse | 56 |
| V. | Homeward Bound | 74 |
| VI. | Old Charlie Brings Back Joe | 92 |
A TALE OF THE TOW-PATH.
CHAPTER I.
THE RESULT OF A WHIPPING.
Hoeing corn is not very hard work forone who is accustomed to it, but the circumstancesof the hoeing may make thetask an exceedingly laborious one. Theydid so in Joe Gaston’s case. Joe Gastonthought he had never in his life beforebeen put to such hard and disagreeablework.
In the first place, the ground had beenbroken up only that spring, and it wasvery rough and stony. Next, the fieldwas on a western slope, and the rays ofthe afternoon sun shone squarely on it.It was an unusually oppressive day, too,for the last of June.
Finally, and chiefly: Joe was a fourteen-year-oldboy, fond of sport and of[2]companionship, and he was working therealone.
Leaning heavily on the handle of hishoe, Joe gazed pensively away to the west.At the foot of the slope lay a small lake,its unruffled surface reflecting with startlingdistinctness the foliage that lined itsshores, and the two white clouds that hungabove in the blue sky.
Through a