Page:Harry Castlemon - The Steel Horse.djvu/317

 of you, all going somewhere, but you're the first to come our way this season. Alight and hitch."

"Thank you; but our horses stand without hitching," replied Arthur. "Will it be convenient for you to keep us to-night?"

The dusty miller, following his voice to the door, said it would not only be quite convenient, but he would be glad to do it, for he was lonely up there in the hills, and he and his family were always pleased to see new faces. The first wheelman who ever came that way stopped with him for a week, and promised to tell any who came after him to do the same. The miller was surprised when Arthur produced the road-book, showed him his name, and told him that they had had him and his house in mind ever since they left Mount Airy.

"And do you mean to say that you have come that distance with nothing but a book to guide you?" he exclaimed. "Now that is the neatest kind of a trick, ain't it? Well, come in and we'll get some of the dust off."

That night after supper, while they were sitting on the porch, the boys told Mr. Hudson