Nor had we ever seen ground hemlock or poisonous ivy there.

The clearing was nearly all good, grassy upland such as farmers consider a safe pasturage.

Truly the shadow of tragedy seemed to hover there.
We bore our sorrowful tidings home, and the old Squire was as much astonished and mystified as every one else.

None of us had the heart either to carry the sad news or even to send word of it to Mrs.Kennard; but we notified the owner of the Percherons at once.

He came to look into the matter the next morning.
The affair made an unusual stir, and all that Monday a considerable number of persons walked up to the clearing to see if they could determine the cause of the colts' mysterious death.