Upon this scheme John finally settled as the one promising the
most amusement to himself and annoyance to his enemy, as he chose
to regard Frank. He felt quite averse, however, to doing the work
himself. In the first place, it must be done by night, and he
could not absent himself from the house at a late hour without
his father's knowledge. Again, he knew there was a risk of being
caught, and it would not sound very well if noised abroad that
the son of Squire Haynes had gone out by night and let loose a
neighbor's pigs.

He cast about in his mind for a confederate, and after awhile
settled upon a boy named Dick Bumstead.

This Dick had the reputation of being a scape-grace and a
ne'er-do-well. He was about the age of John Haynes, but had not
attended school for a couple of years, and, less from want of
natural capacity than from indolence, knew scarcely more than a
boy of ten. His father was a shoemaker, and had felt obliged to
keep his son at home to assist him in the shop. He did not prove
a very efficient assistant, however, being inclined to shirk duty
whenever he could.

It was upon this boy that John Haynes fixed as most likely to
help him in his plot. On his way home from school the next
afternoon, he noticed Dick loitering along a little in advance.

"Hold on, Dick," he called out, in a friendly voice, at the same
time quickening his pace.

Dick turned in some surprise, for John Haynes had a foolish