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- clear: both; -} - -.author { - font-size: 1.25em; - text-align: center; - clear: both; -} - -.works { - font-size: .75em; - text-align: center; - clear: both; -} - -/* Advertisement formatting. */ -.adpage { - margin-left: 15%; - margin-right: 15%; - text-align: left; -} - -@media handheld { - .adpage { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - } -} - -.adgroup { - font-size: 1.25em; - font-weight: bold; - text-align: center; - clear: both; -} - -.adtitle { - font-size: 1.5em; - font-weight: bold; - text-align: center; - clear: both; -} - -.adauthor { - font-size: 1.25em; - text-align: center; - clear: both; -} - -/* Hanging indent. */ -.hang { - text-indent: -2em; - padding-left: 3em; -} - -.ident { - padding-left: 0.5em; -} - - </style> - </head> - -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tinkle, the Trick Pony, by Richard Barnum - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Tinkle, the Trick Pony - His Many Adventures - -Author: Richard Barnum - -Illustrator: Walter S. Rogers - -Release Date: April 16, 2020 [EBook #61847] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TINKLE, THE TRICK PONY *** - - - - -Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - - -<div class="figcenter" id="cover" style="width: 600px;"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="600" height="742" alt="cover" title="cover" /> -</div> - - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="figcenter" id="i_frontis" style="width: 381px;"> - <img src="images/i_frontis.jpg" width="381" height="600" alt="" title="" /> - <br /> - <div class="caption"><a href="#Page_109">He nosed around among all the flags until he found the -one he knew he wanted, and with that in his teeth he trotted -over to Mr. Drake.</a></div> -</div> - - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="noi subtitle"><i>Kneetime Animal Stories</i></p> - - -<h1>TINKLE<br /> -THE TRICK PONY</h1> - -<p class="noi subtitle">HIS MANY ADVENTURES</p> - -<p class="p2 noic">BY</p> - -<p class="noi author">RICHARD BARNUM</p> - -<p class="noi works">Author of “Squinty, the Comical Pig,” “Mappo, the<br /> -Merry Monkey,” “Tum Tum, the Jolly Elephant,”<br /> -“Don, a Runaway Dog,” “Flop Ear, the<br /> -Funny Rabbit,” etc.</p> - -<p class="p2 noi works"><i>ILLUSTRATED BY</i></p> - -<p class="noic"><i>WALTER S. ROGERS</i></p> - -<div class="pad2"> -<div class="figcenter" id="logo" style="width: 158px;"> - <img src="images/logo.jpg" width="158" height="120" alt="logo" title="logo" /> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noic">PUBLISHERS<br /> -<span class="noi adauthor">BARSE & HOPKINS</span><br /> -NEW YORK, N. Y. NEWARK, N. J.</p> - - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="noic">Copyright, 1917<br /> -by<br /> -<span class="smcap">Barse & Hopkins</span></p> - -<hr class="r20" /> - -<p class="noic">Tinkle, The Trick Pony</p> - -<p class="p6 noi works"><i>Printed in the United States of America</i></p> - - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - - -<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> -<col style="width: 20%;" /> -<col style="width: 70%;" /> -<col style="width: 10%;" /> -<tr> - <th class="smfontr">CHAPTER</th> - <th class="tdl"></th> - <th class="smfontr">PAGE</th> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">I</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">Tinkle in the Swamp</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">7</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">II</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">Tinkle Makes Trouble</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">16</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">III</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">Tinkle and George</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">26</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">IV</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">Tinkle’s New Home</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">36</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">V</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">Tinkle’s Friends</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">47</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">VI</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">Tinkle Meets Dido</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">55</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">VII</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">Tinkle Does Some Tricks</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">65</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">VIII</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">Tinkle is Taken Away</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">74</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">IX</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">Tinkle in the Circus</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">85</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">X</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">Tinkle and Tum Tum</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">94</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">XI</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">Tinkle Is Sad</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">103</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">XII</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">Tinkle Is Happy</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">111</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> - - -<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" summary="Illustrations"> -<col style="width: 80%;" /> -<col style="width: 20%;" /> -<tr> - <th class="tdl"></th> - <th class="smfontr">PAGE</th> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#i_frontis">He nosed around among all the flags until -he found the one he knew he wanted, and with that in his teeth he trotted over to Mr. -Drake</a></td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Frontispiece</i></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#i_p023">And the next time he did jump high enough to -go over the fence</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">23</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#i_p045">It was the first time Tinkle had ever had any -one on his back</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">45</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#i_p059">“Oh, what a nice pony cart!” cried the boys -and girls</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">59</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#i_p081">It took a little time to make him stand upon -his hind legs without anything on which to rest his front feet</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">81</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#i_p101">As Tinkle looked he saw one funny elephant -slyly reach out his trunk and pull the tail of the elephant in front of him</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">101</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#i_p117">George threw his arms around the pony’s neck</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">117</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>[7]</span></p> - - -<p class="noi title">TINKLE,<br /> -THE TRICK PONY</p> - - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I<br /> -<small>TINKLE IN THE SWAMP</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">Tinkle stopped nibbling the sweet, -green grass of the meadow, blew a long -breath from his nose, raised his head -and looked around. Then he blinked his eyes -slowly, turned to look first on one side, then on -the other, and to himself he said:</p> - -<p>“I’m going to run away!”</p> - -<p>He did not say this aloud for fear some of -the other ponies or the horses would hear him. -Oh! I forgot to tell you that Tinkle was a little -pony, that lived in the big green meadow; and, -being a pony, of course Tinkle ate grass, and -liked it, too.</p> - -<p>So, as I said, Tinkle stopped eating the grass -and said to himself once more:</p> - -<p>“I’m going to run away!”</p> - -<p>The reason Tinkle did not want the other -ponies and the horses to know what he was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>[8]</span> -going to do was because his mother and father -were over in one corner of the meadow, and -if they knew he intended to run away, they -would not let him do it; any more than your -mother or father would let you run away.</p> - -<p>Of course I know that horses sometimes run -away when they are frightened by something, -and I suppose ponies, too, may, once in a while, -trot off when they ought not. But that isn’t -saying it is right.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Tinkle to himself, “I’m going to -run away. I’m tired of staying in this meadow -all the while. Why, I’ve been here over a year -now, and there hasn’t a thing happened except -a thunder storm now and then, or a rain shower. -I want to see something more than that. I want -to have some fun, and go off to a big city, such -as the other horses tell about.</p> - -<p>“Why, there’s Dapple Gray,” went on Tinkle, -looking at an old horse who had come to the -green meadow for a long rest. “I’ve heard -Dapple tell stories about drawing a big shiny -wagon that spouted fire and smoke just like the -chimney on the house where The Man lives. -That was great! I’d like to pull the kind of -wagon Dapple tells about, and hear the bells -ring and see the sparks fly and the water spout -out on the fire. I wonder what kind of wagon -it was?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span></p> - -<p>Of course <em>you</em> have guessed. It was a fire -engine that Dapple Gray had pulled, and he -never tired of telling the other horses about it.</p> - -<p>Tinkle used often to listen to the stories -Dapple Gray and the other horses told as they -gathered in the shade of the clump of trees in -the green meadow after their dinner or their -breakfast of sweet, green grass.</p> - -<p>For Tinkle lived on what is called a stock -farm, not far from a big city. The farm was -owned by a person whom the horses called “The -Man.” Really his name was John Carter and -he raised horses and ponies to sell to other -men.</p> - -<p>Mr. Carter liked his horses very much, and -was very kind to them, and he loved his little -ponies, of whom Tinkle was one. The ponies -and the horses lived in a warm barn in the Winter, -but in the Summer they were “turned out -to grass,” and could walk or run all over the big -meadow, and do almost as they pleased.</p> - -<p>Sometimes men would come to the stock farm -to buy horses. They might want one to pull -a coal wagon or a wagon from which vegetables -were sold. Some of the horses, like -Dapple, were used to haul fire engines, while -others pulled fine carriages in which rode men -and women. The ponies were sold, too, but -they were only put to such easy work as carrying<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>[10]</span> -boys and girls around on their backs, or pulling -little carriages in the parks.</p> - -<p>“But nothing like that ever happened to me,” -said Tinkle as he began slowly to walk away. -“So I’m going to run off, as far as I can go, -and maybe I’ll have some adventures like -Dapple Gray.”</p> - -<p>Tinkle had eaten plenty of the sweet, green -grass, so he was no longer hungry. He did not -need to take anything to eat with him when he -ran away. In the first place ponies have no -pockets in which to carry anything, though, of -course, if they are hitched to a wagon, that would -hold corn, hay or oats which ponies like to eat.</p> - -<p>But, as for that, all round in the meadow -where Tinkle lived was grass to eat. He had -only to stop and nibble some when he was hungry, -so he had no need to carry anything with -him.</p> - -<p>“There is more here than I could eat all Summer,” -thought the little pony. “And when I -get tired of running away I can just rest myself, -eat grass and then run on some more.”</p> - -<p>Though Tinkle called it “running away” he -was really walking. Just as some children do -when they start to run away, they don’t run at -all, but walk.</p> - -<p>One reason why Tinkle did not care to run -was that he did not want his father, mother or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>[11]</span> -the other ponies or the horses to see him. They -might not notice him if he just walked, but if -he started to run some one would be sure to ask:</p> - -<p>“Why, where is that Tinkle pony going -now?”</p> - -<p>And then Tinkle’s mother would look up and -say:</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear! That silly little pony will get -into trouble! I must go and bring him back.”</p> - -<p>Then she would run after Tinkle, and all his -fun would be spoiled. Of course the ponies -and horses in the meadow used often to run -about, kick up their heels and roll over and over -on their backs in the soft grass. But this was -only because they felt so good and frisky and -lively that they simply could not do anything -else.</p> - -<p>But when the colts ran that way, they -nearly always went around in a circle, like a -merry-go-round, only bigger, and the father and -mother horses thought nothing of that.</p> - -<p>“I’m not going to run that way,” said Tinkle -to himself. “I’m going far off.”</p> - -<p>By this time he was quite away from the other -horses. But, as he looked back, he saw them all -standing in a circle with their noses close together. -Dapple Gray was in the center of the -ring, and Tinkle’s father and mother were -among those on the outside.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span></p> - -<p>“Dapple is telling another story about how -he drew the funny wagon with the chimney on,” -thought Tinkle. “I don’t want to hear that -again.”</p> - -<p>Ponies and horses, you know, can talk among -themselves and think, just as we can, only, of -course, they can’t think quite as much perhaps, -nor as hard. But if they could not talk among -themselves how could the mother pony tell the -little pony what was good to eat and what not? -So, though horses and ponies can’t talk to us in -words as we talk to one another, they do speak -among themselves.</p> - -<p>You have often heard horses and ponies -whinny, I suppose; and perhaps that is when -they are trying to talk to us, though I must say -I never could understand what they were trying -to say. Perhaps some day I may.</p> - -<p>At any rate Tinkle was thinking to himself, -as he slowly wandered across the meadow. He -was thinking what wonderful things might happen -to him—adventures and travels.</p> - -<p>On and on he wandered, looking back now -and then to make sure neither his father nor -his mother nor any of the others saw him. -But they were listening to Dapple Gray tell of -once falling down in the street while drawing -the fire engine and how nearly a trolley car ran -over him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span></p> - -<p>And the other horses liked the story so much -that none of them thought of Tinkle, or looked -at him. They listened to Dapple Gray.</p> - -<p>The other young ponies, many of whom were -about the size of Tinkle, were down at the far -end of the meadow, having a game of what -you would, perhaps, call tag, though what the -ponies called it I do not know. Probably they -had some funny name among themselves like -“hoof-jump” or “tail-wiggle,” or something -like that.</p> - -<p>Anyhow, they were having so much fun -among themselves that none of them paid any -attention to Tinkle.</p> - -<p>“They won’t see me at all,” thought the little -pony. “I’ll run away where they can never -find me.”</p> - -<p>Of course Tinkle was not doing this to be bad, -but he was just tired of staying in one place so -long, and he wanted to have adventures.</p> - -<p>On and on he wandered, and finally he came -to a fence. Now the fence was put around the -meadow to keep the horses and the ponies from -getting out. But Tinkle had heard stories of -horses jumping fences so he thought he would -try it; for he was not strong enough to push -down the fence, as he had once heard of Bellow, -the big black bull, doing.</p> - -<p>Standing off a little way from the fence Tinkle<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>[14]</span> -ran toward it, gave a jump up in the air, -and then—he did not get over the fence. Instead -he fell against it and hurt himself.</p> - -<p>“Ha! that is no fun!” thought Tinkle. “I -must jump higher next time.” <a href="#i_p023">And the next -time he did jump high enough to go over the -fence</a>, coming down on the other side, kerplunk!</p> - -<p>“At last I have really run away,” thought the -little pony.</p> - -<p>He found himself in another green meadow, -but it was not as nice as the one he had left. The -grass was longer, but it was hard and tough, and -hurt Tinkle’s mouth and tongue when he -chewed it.</p> - -<p>“But I don’t have to eat it,” said the little -pony. “I can wait until I get to where there -is better grass. I’m not very hungry.”</p> - -<p>So he walked on a little farther, and pretty -soon he came to some trees. In and out among -them he wandered, and when he stopped to look -back he found that he could no longer see the -meadow in which he had lived so long with -his father, his mother and the other ponies and -the horses.</p> - -<p>“And they can’t see me, either,” thought Tinkle. -“They won’t know where I’ve gone, so -they can’t find me. I’m going to have a good -time all by myself, and there’ll be nobody to say:<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>[15]</span> -‘Don’t do this. Don’t do that’; as they always -do when I’m in the green meadow.”</p> - -<p>On and on went Tinkle and soon he was quite -a long distance from what had been his home. -Then he noticed that the ground, instead of -being hard and firm under his hoofs, was getting -soft and springy, and that his feet sank down in -it a little way. He saw, too, that when he lifted -his hoofs from the marks they left little pools -of water in the holes they made.</p> - -<p>“This is queer,” thought Tinkle. “I must be -getting near the lake I have heard my father -tell about. I wonder if I can swim?”</p> - -<p>Tinkle looked about, and just ahead he saw -a puddle of water. It was too small for a lake, -but there was enough of it for him to splash in, -and, as he was now thirsty, he ran on to get a -drink. And then a queer thing happened.</p> - -<p>Just before Tinkle reached the water he felt -his legs and hoofs sinking down in the soft -ground. He tried to lift his left front foot, but -could not. And his right hind foot was also -stuck fast.</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear! What has happened to me?” -cried poor Tinkle. “I can’t move!”</p> - -<p>And really he could not. Tinkle was caught -fast in the sticky mud of a big swamp!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II<br /> -<small>TINKLE MAKES TROUBLE</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">Dapple Gray had just finished telling -the story of his being caught under -the trolley car, the time he was drawing -the fire engine.</p> - -<p>“And so,” went on the old horse, “men came -and pushed the car off my legs. The firemen -loosened my harness and then I could get up.”</p> - -<p>“Weren’t you hurt?” asked Mrs. Chestnut, -who was called that because she was colored -brown.</p> - -<p>“Well, my legs <em>were</em> a bit scratched, and I -had some bruises on my side, but I could still -run and pull the engine. You see we horses -couldn’t stop whenever we wanted to. We had -to pull the funny chimney-wagon to where the -fire was blazing so the men could squirt water -on it.</p> - -<p>“Men are queer,” went on Dapple Gray. -“They’ll build a big fire in a house so the house -almost burns up, and then they’ll make us -horses run like mad to draw water to put it out. -I never could understand it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span></p> - -<p>Of course Dapple Gray did not know that -the house caught fire by accident and that it had -to be put out for fear other houses near it might -burn.</p> - -<p>“And so you ran on, even if your legs were -cut?” asked Tinkle’s father.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, of course,” replied Dapple Gray. -“The cuts hurt me, but when I got back to the -stable the firemen put some cooling salve on -the wounds and bound my legs up with white -rags so they felt better.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t believe I’d like that,” said Tinkle’s -mother. “Life is too exciting in the city. -I like it best in this quiet country meadow, -where you can eat grass whenever you like, or -rest in the shade when you are tired.”</p> - -<p>“Look at those ponies having fun down -there,” said another horse, pointing with his -nose toward the group that was playing tag. “I -remember when I was young I liked to play -that way.”</p> - -<p>“Is Tinkle there?” asked the pony’s father. -“He is one of the best taggers I’ve ever seen. -When he grows a little bigger he’ll be a fine -racer, I think.”</p> - -<p>Tinkle’s mother looked toward where the -ponies were running about, touching one another -with their hoofs or noses, or switching at -one another with their frisky tails.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span></p> - -<p>“I don’t see Tinkle,” she said.</p> - -<p>“Oh, he <em>must</em> be there,” said Tinkle’s father. -“I’ll go and look.”</p> - -<p>Off he trotted to where the other colts were -playing. He looked at them for a little while, -but he did not see Tinkle among them.</p> - -<p>“That’s queer,” thought the father pony. -“Tinkle likes tag so much, I wonder why he -isn’t here?”</p> - -<p>He stood still, looking more closely, to make -sure he had not missed the little pony; but no, -Tinkle was not there.</p> - -<p>“I’ll ask some of them,” said the father pony -to himself. So, giving a loud whinny, to make -himself heard above the noise the tag-playing -ponies were making, the father pony asked:</p> - -<p>“Have any of you seen our Tinkle?”</p> - -<p>“No, I haven’t,” said a little brown pony.</p> - -<p>“Nor I,” added one who was speckled brown -and white.</p> - -<p>“I saw him a while ago, eating grass,” answered -a third.</p> - -<p>“He hasn’t been playing tag with us this -morning,” added a fourth pony, who had a very -long tail.</p> - -<p>“I wonder where Tinkle can be,” murmured -his father.</p> - -<p>Then up spoke a little pony with a white spot -on his back.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span></p> - -<p>“I saw Tinkle going over that way,” he said, -and he raised his hoof and pointed toward a -fence on the far side of the field.</p> - -<p>“Did you really see him going that way?” -asked the father pony.</p> - -<p>“I really did,” answered the little pony.</p> - -<p>“Oh my! That’s too bad!” thought Tinkle’s -father to himself, but he did not say this to the -ponies, for he did not want to frighten them. -Well did the older pony know of the dangerous -swamp that was on the other side of the fence.</p> - -<p>“If he is in the sticky bog-mud we’ll have -trouble getting him out,” said the father pony to -himself. “I must go back and tell some of the -others. But I don’t want Tinkle’s mother to -know. What shall I do?”</p> - -<p>The father pony trotted back to where Dapple -Gray and the others stood.</p> - -<p>“Well, was he there?” asked Tinkle’s mother.</p> - -<p>Tinkle’s father shook his head.</p> - -<p>“Where is he then?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, he probably went off for a little walk -by himself. I’ll go and find him,” and he tried -to speak easily.</p> - -<p>“But I don’t see him anywhere!” and the -mother pony looked anxiously about the big -green meadow. She could see every corner -of it, and Tinkle was not in sight.</p> - -<p>“Now you just stay here, and I’ll bring him<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span> -back,” said Tinkle’s father quietly. At the -same time he nodded his head at Dapple Gray -and one or two of the other men-horses, and two -or three of his closest friends among the men-ponies. -They moved away together. Tinkle’s -mother looked at them as if to say:</p> - -<p>“I wonder if anything could have happened?”</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter?” asked Dapple Gray in -a low voice of Tinkle’s father, speaking in horse-talk, -of course.</p> - -<p>“I’m not sure, but I’m afraid Tinkle has -jumped the fence and has gone over to the big -swampy bog,” was the answer. “If he has, and -is stuck fast, we’ll have to go and get him out. -But I don’t want his mother to know it.”</p> - -<p>The men-animals walked over toward the -fence. Tinkle’s father looked down at the -ground. He saw little hoof marks.</p> - -<p>“Yes, Tinkle has been here,” he said. “I can -see where he ran to get a good start so he could -jump over the fence.”</p> - -<p>“He is a good jumper to do that,” remarked -one of the horses.</p> - -<p>“Yes, Tinkle is a good jumper, for a colt,” -said his father. “I think he will be very smart -when he grows up. But he should not jump -fences into the swamp. That is not right.”</p> - -<p>“How are we going to get over the fence to -help him if he is stuck?” asked Dapple Gray.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span></p> - -<p>“Can’t we jump?” another horse inquired.</p> - -<p>“Maybe you can, but I can’t,” returned Dapple -Gray. “One of my legs is stiff, where I was -hurt by the trolley car. Once I could easily -have jumped over that fence, but I’m afraid I -can’t do it now.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know whether I can either,” observed -Tinkle’s father. “I’m not so young as I -once was. But if we all push together I think -we can knock the fence down. Then we can get -through to see what has happened to my pony -boy. We want you to come along, Dapple, because -you have been in the big city where all -sorts of things happen to horses. You’ll know -what is best to do.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” whinnied Dapple Gray. -“I’ll do my best.”</p> - -<p>Together the big horses and the ponies pushed -at the fence. Tinkle’s mother watched them, -and when she saw what was being done she became -frightened.</p> - -<p>“Something dreadful must have happened to -Tinkle,” she said. “I can’t stay here. I’m going -to see what it is.”</p> - -<p>So she began to run toward the men-animals. -By this time they were giving a second push to -the fence, and, as they were very strong, they -knocked off some boards so they could get -through.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>[22]</span></p> - -<p>“Now we’ll see what has happened to -Tinkle,” said his father. “Tinkle! Tinkle! -Where are you?” he called.</p> - -<p>But Tinkle did not answer, for he was far -away in the swamp, and just then he was splashing -around in the mud and water trying to pull -loose his feet from the sticky place.</p> - -<p>“We’ll have to go farther on into the swamp,” -said Dapple Gray, when they had waited a minute -to see if Tinkle would answer.</p> - -<p>“But we must be careful,” said one horse, -slowly picking his steps. “This is soft ground -here. See how deep my hoofs sink.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed it <em>is</em> a bad place,” agreed Tinkle’s -father. “I hope nothing happens to us. Be -careful, every one.”</p> - -<p>Slowly the horses and the ponies walked -along, picking out the hardest and firmest -ground they could find on which to step, especially -the horses, for they were, of course, -heavier than the most grown-up pony. Now -and then all stopped to listen, and Tinkle’s -father would call the pony’s name. At last -one of the horses said:</p> - -<p>“Hark! I think I heard something.”</p> - -<p>They all listened. Through the trees of the -swamp came a call:</p> - -<p>“Help me! Help me!”</p> - -<p>“That’s Tinkle!” cried his father. “We’re -coming, Tinkle. Where are you?” he asked.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="i_p023" style="width: 375px;"> - <img src="images/i_p023.jpg" width="375" height="600" alt="" title="" /> - <br /> - <div class="caption"><a href="#Page_14">And the next time he did jump high enough to go over the -fence.</a></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span></p> - -<p>“I’m over here, and I’m stuck in the swamp. -I can’t get my feet out of the mud!”</p> - -<p>“I thought so!” exclaimed Dapple Gray. -“Just like a foolish little pony! Now we must -get him out.”</p> - -<p>So anxious was he to help his little pony -that Tinkle’s father galloped on ahead. Some -of the others did the same. They did not listen -to Dapple calling:</p> - -<p>“Wait! Be careful! Look out or you’ll be -caught in the swamp yourselves!”</p> - -<p>On and on ran Tinkle’s father and the others. -They could tell which way to go by hearing -Tinkle’s voice calling to them, just as your dog -can tell where you are, even though he can not -see you, when he hears you whistling to him.</p> - -<p>“There he is! I see him!” cried Tinkle’s -father as he came in sight of the pool of water, -on the edge of which the pony was stuck in the -mud.</p> - -<p>“We’re coming! We’re coming, Tinkle!” he -cried.</p> - -<p>Then something dreadful happened. Tinkle’s -father, and four or five of his friends, became -stuck in the swamp mud also. Their feet sank -away down, for they were heavier than Tinkle, -and, try as they did, they could not lift themselves -out.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>[25]</span></p> - -<p>“Oh!” cried Tinkle’s father. “We are caught -too!”</p> - -<p>Only Dapple Gray had not been caught. He -had run slowly, fearing something like this -might happen.</p> - -<p>Just see what trouble Tinkle made by running -away! For it was really his fault that the other -ponies and the horses became mired, though of -course Tinkle had not meant to do wrong. He -had not thought; but often not thinking makes -as much trouble as doing something on purpose.</p> - -<p>“Help! Help!” cried Tinkle’s father. “We -are caught in the mud too.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear!” whinnied Tinkle.</p> - -<p>Dapple Gray saw what the matter was.</p> - -<p>“Keep quiet, all of you!” he said. “The more -you flop about, the deeper you will sink in the -mud. I’ll go and get The Man to come with -ropes and pull you out. He and his helpers are -the only ones who can save you now. This is no -work for us horses alone. I’ll go for help.”</p> - -<p>And, leaving Tinkle and the others stuck in -the swamp, back to the green meadow ran Dapple -Gray.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III<br /> -<small>TINKLE AND GEORGE</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">Dapple Gray, running toward the -hole which the horses had made by -pushing against the fence, met Tinkle’s -mother going into the swamp.</p> - -<p>“Oh, my dear lady!” exclaimed the old fire -horse, “you must not go in there! You really -must not!”</p> - -<p>“Why?” asked Tinkle’s mother. “Oh, I’m -sure something dreadful has happened! Tell -me what it is. Is Tinkle—Is Tinkle—” and -she could not ask any more.</p> - -<p>“Now, it isn’t as bad as you think,” said Dapple -Gray. “Horses and ponies have been -caught in the swamp before. I remember when -I was a young colt I—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, is my little Tinkle caught in the bog?” -asked his mother.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I am sorry to say he is, and so are some -of the other ponies and horses—Tinkle’s father -among them,” said Dapple Gray. “But don’t -be worried. All they will have to do will be -to stay there until we can get The Man to come -with ropes and pull them out. They won’t be<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span> -a bit the worse for the adventure after they wash -the mud off. Now please don’t go in there, my -dear lady-horse, or you might get stuck too; and -goodness knows there is trouble enough!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I am so sorry Tinkle made trouble!” exclaimed -his mother. “He is usually such a -good little pony—”</p> - -<p>“Oh well, boys will be boys!” exclaimed Dapple -Gray, or he said something about like that -which meant the same thing. And you all -know how frisky colts are; always kicking up -their heels and never knowing where they are -going to land.</p> - -<p>“Of course Tinkle didn’t do exactly right in -running away and making this trouble,” said -Dapple Gray in a kind voice. “But then it -will be a lesson to him, and he won’t do it again, -I’m sure.”</p> - -<p>“I should think once <em>would</em> be enough,” -sighed his mother. “But are you sure I can not -do anything to help?”</p> - -<p>“Not in there,” said Dapple Gray, nodding -his head toward the swamp. “But you can -come with me, if you like, and we’ll go to get -The Man to help pull Tinkle and the others out -of the swamp.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I’ll do that!” whinnied Tinkle’s mother.</p> - -<p>So she and Dapple Gray ran back to the green -meadow.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span></p> - -<p>“What is it? What is it?” asked all the other -animals that were waiting by the hole in the -fence. These were the horses and the ponies -who had not gone into the swamp.</p> - -<p>Dapple Gray quickly told them of the -trouble. At the same time he said:</p> - -<p>“Don’t any of you go in there. The ground -is too soft now and if a lot of you horses trample -on it that will make it so much the softer, and -The Man and his friends will have trouble getting -in with their ropes and boards. So please -keep out.”</p> - -<p>The horses promised they would, while Dapple -Gray and Tinkle’s mother ran as fast as -they could across the meadow. They wanted -to get to the long lane which led to the barn, -not far from which was the house where lived -“The Man,” as the horses called Mr. John Carter, -the stock dealer.</p> - -<p>“How are we going to tell him that Tinkle -and the others are in the mire?” asked the pony’s -mother. “We can’t talk man-talk, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know,” said Dapple Gray. “But I -guess I can find a way to make him understand. -I know what I’ll do,” he said, as he galloped on. -“I’ll pick up a piece of rope in the barn and -take it to The Man in my teeth. He’ll know -that means we want him to bring other ropes -and get the horses out of the swamp.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>[29]</span></p> - -<p>“I hope he will understand,” said Tinkle’s -mother.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I think he will,” replied Dapple Gray, -hopefully.</p> - -<p>As they ran past the barn, the big doors of -which were open, the old fire horse trotted inside. -He looked about, and on the floor he saw -a piece of rope. Picking this up in his teeth, -Dapple Gray, with Tinkle’s mother, ran on toward -the house. Out in the back yard stood -Mr. Carter talking to some of his hands.</p> - -<p>“Look!” suddenly called one of the men. -“Some of the horses are out of the meadow. -They’re coming here!”</p> - -<p>“So they are!” ejaculated Mr. Carter. “I -wonder what that means.”</p> - -<p>“And Dapple Gray has a rope in his teeth,” -went on the man.</p> - -<p>“Why, so he has!” exclaimed Mr. Carter. “I -wonder what <em>that</em> means.”</p> - -<p>Right up to where the stock breeder and his -men stood ran Dapple Gray and Tinkle’s -mother. The old fire horse stretched out his -neck and shook his head up and down, the rope -flapping to and fro. He seemed to be offering -it to Mr. Carter.</p> - -<p>“Ha! Dapple wants something,” said the -stockman. “I wonder what it is. I wish he -could talk.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span></p> - -<p>And then Dapple Gray did something which -was almost as good as talking. He rubbed the -rope that was in his mouth against Mr. Carter’s -hand, and then, dropping it at his feet, took hold -of the man’s coat in his teeth. Then the old -fire horse began to pull gently, just as often a -dog, when it finds some one in danger, will try -to lead somebody to the place to help.</p> - -<p>“Why!” cried the surprised Mr. Carter. “I -believe Dapple wants me to come with him.”</p> - -<p>“That’s what he does!” exclaimed one of the -hands.</p> - -<p>“But what about the rope?” asked another.</p> - -<p>“Maybe he wants me to bring that, too,” observed -the stockman. “I wonder if anything can -have happened to the horses?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll go and take a look,” offered Mr. Carter’s -overseer. He quickly ran to a place where -he could look down into the green meadow.</p> - -<p>“What is it?” asked Mr. Carter.</p> - -<p>“All the horses seem to be over near a hole -in the fence,” the man reported. “And some -seem to be missing. I don’t see that little pony, -Tinkle, anywhere.”</p> - -<p>“Whew!” whistled Mr. Carter. “Something -certainly has happened. This is Tinkle’s -mother,” he went on, looking at Dapple’s companion.</p> - -<p>“Wouldn’t it be queer if Tinkle were in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span> -trouble, and she had come to get you to help -him?” asked the overseer.</p> - -<p>And of course you and I know that is just -what Tinkle’s mother did want, but the stockman -and his helpers did not know that yet.</p> - -<p>“I think I see what the trouble is!” suddenly -cried Mr. Carter. “Some of the animals must -have broken down the fence and gotten into the -swamp! They’re mired there! We must get -ropes and haul them out. Smart horse, is Dapple -to tell me that! I’ll come right away. -Come on, men! Lively now.”</p> - -<p>The man ran toward the barn for ropes, led -by Mr. Carter. Though Dapple and Tinkle’s -mother could not understand what the men said, -they knew that help would soon be carried to -Tinkle and the others held fast in the mud. -They trotted along after the men, who were -talking among themselves.</p> - -<p>Of course horses and ponies understand some -man-talk, else how would they know they are -to stop when a man says “Whoa!” or to start -when they hear “Gid-dap!” or to back when -told to do so. But it takes a little time for a -horse to get to know these words, just as it does -your dog to know you want him to run toward -you when you say: “Come here!” or go back -when you point toward home, and tell him to -go there.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span></p> - -<p>“Things will be all right now,” said Dapple -Gray to Tinkle’s mother, using horse-talk, of -course. “The Man will soon have all the -horses and ponies out of the bog.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’m so glad you thought of a way to -tell him,” said Tinkle’s mother.</p> - -<p>Taking some ropes and planks out of the -barn, Mr. Carter and his men ran on toward the -green meadow. It did not take them long to -reach the broken fence.</p> - -<p>“Here’s where the rascals got through to the -swamp!” cried Mr. Carter. “I must make the -fence much stronger.”</p> - -<p>Of course he did not know that Tinkle had -made all the trouble by first jumping over the -fence. The others had only broken it down to -go to help the boy-pony.</p> - -<p>“Come on!” cried the stockman. “That bog -is a bad place. If they sink down too far we’ll -never be able to get them up again. Come on, -I say!”</p> - -<p>On ran the men with the planks and the ropes. -They soon came to the place where the horses -and ponies were mired, as it is called.</p> - -<p>“Tinkle is in deeper than any of them,” said -Mr. Carter. “We must get him out first.”</p> - -<p>The men laid down the wide planks. The -pieces of wood were so broad that they did not -sink down in the soft mud, any more than wide<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span> -snow shoes will sink down when an Indian, or -any man, walks on them.</p> - -<p>Then, standing on the planks, the men put -ropes about Tinkle and began to pull on them. -They also laid down planks near him so that -when he got one foot out of the mire he could -put it on a plank and it would not sink down -again.</p> - -<p>After some hard work and much pulling on -the ropes, which hurt the little pony, Tinkle -was pulled out of the swamp, and led to firm, -dry ground, back in the meadow.</p> - -<p>“And now you’d better stay there,” said Mr. -Carter. “Don’t try a thing like this again.”</p> - -<p>“No indeed, you must never do it again!” said -Tinkle’s mother, for she could tell by Mr. Carter’s -voice that he was, in a way, scolding the -pony. “See what a lot of trouble you made -your father and me, as well as Dapple Gray and -our other friends,” said Tinkle’s mother.</p> - -<p>“I—I’m sorry,” said the little pony. “I’m -never going to run away again.”</p> - -<p>“And see how muddy and dirty you are,” went -on his mother. “You had better go to the brook -and wash yourself.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, let me stay and watch them get my -father and the others out of the swamp,” -begged Tinkle, so his mother let him stay.</p> - -<p>It was not quite so hard to get the others out<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span> -as it had been to save Tinkle, for they were not -so deep in the mud. But it took Mr. Carter and -his men quite a while. Finally, however, the -ponies and the horses were all saved from the -swamp.</p> - -<p>“And I hope they never get caught that way -again,” said the stockman, while Tinkle and the -ponies and the horses hoped the same thing.</p> - -<p>After the mud was washed off them, the animals -were not much worse off for what had happened. -Tinkle was sorry and ashamed for all -the trouble he had caused, and he told the other -ponies and his horse-friends so.</p> - -<p>For some time after this Tinkle lived with -his father, mother and friends in the green -meadow. He played with the other children-ponies, -but he did not try to run away again. -He did want to have some adventures, though, -and he was soon to have some very strange ones.</p> - -<p>One day, about a year later, a rich man called -at the stock farm to buy a horse for his carriage. -With the man, who was a Mr. Farley, was his -son George, about nine years old.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I have some good carriage horses,” said -Mr. Carter to Mr. Farley. “Suppose you come -down to the meadow and pick out the one you -like best.”</p> - -<p>“May I come too?” asked George.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I think so,” answered his father. “The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span> -horses won’t kick; will they?” he questioned.</p> - -<p>“Oh, not at all,” answered Mr. Carter. -“They are all gentle.”</p> - -<p>So George went with his father to look at the -horses. But no sooner had the little boy caught -sight of the ponies than he cried:</p> - -<p>“Oh, see the little horses. I want one of them. -Please, Daddy, buy me a pony!”</p> - -<p>“Eh? What’s that? Buy you a pony!” cried -his father, half teasing. “Why you couldn’t ride -a pony.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes I could!” said the little boy. “Anyhow -I could drive him hitched to a pony cart.”</p> - -<p>“But we haven’t a pony cart.”</p> - -<p>“Well, couldn’t you get one? Oh, please get -me a pony, Daddy!”</p> - -<p>“Ah, um! Well, which one would you want, -if you could have one?” asked Mr. Farley, half -in fun.</p> - -<p>George looked over the ponies who were cropping -grass not far away. The boy’s eyes rested -longest on Tinkle, for Tinkle was a pretty pony, -with four white feet and a white star right in the -middle of his head.</p> - -<p>“This is the pony I want!” cried George, and, -before his father could stop him the boy ran -straight to Tinkle and put his arms around the -pony’s neck.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV<br /> -<small>TINKLE’S NEW HOME</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">“George! George! Come away!” -cried his father. “That pony may -kick or bite you!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no, Tinkle won’t do that,” said Mr. Carter. -“Tinkle is a gentle pony, which is more -than I can say of some I have. A few of them -are quite wild. But the only bad thing Tinkle -ever did was, one day, to leave the meadow and -get mired in a swamp. But I got him out.”</p> - -<p>“He wasn’t really bad, was he?” asked -George, who was standing near the pony, patting -him.</p> - -<p>“Well, no, I guess you wouldn’t call it exactly -bad,” said the stockman with a smile. “Tinkle -just didn’t know any better. He wanted to have -some fun, perhaps; but I guess he won’t do that -again.”</p> - -<p>“I won’t let him run away when I have him,” -said George.</p> - -<p>“Oh, ho!” cried Mr. Farley with a laugh. -“So you think you are going to have Tinkle for -your own, do you?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span></p> - -<p>“Won’t you get him for me?” begged the -little boy. “Mabel and I could have <em>such</em> fun -riding and driving him.” Mabel was George’s -sister. She was a year younger than he.</p> - -<p>“Do you think it would be safe for a little -boy like mine to have a pony?” asked Mr. Farley -of the stockman.</p> - -<p>“Why, yes, after Tinkle is trained a bit,” said -Mr. Carter. “He has never been ridden or -driven, but I could soon get him trained so he -would be safe to use both ways. Do you think -you want to buy him?”</p> - -<p>“Well, I might,” said Mr. Farley slowly. -He was thinking whether it would be best or -not. He did not want either of his little children -to be hurt by a pony that might run away.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” said the owner -of the stock farm. “I’ll sell you a horse for -yourself, and then I’ll start at once to teach Tinkle -what it means to have some one on his back, -and also how he must act when he is hitched -to a pony cart. I am going to train some of -the other ponies, and I’ll train him also. He -is old enough now to be trained. Then you and -your little boy come back in about two weeks -and we’ll see how George likes Tinkle then,” -finished Mr. Carter.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’ll love him all the more!” cried -George. “I love him now, and I want him for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span> -my very own! He is a fine pony!” and once -more George patted the little creature.</p> - -<p>“You couldn’t do that to some of the ponies,” -said Mr. Carter, as he and George’s father -walked back toward the house. “They would -be too wild, and would not stand still. But Tinkle -is a smart little chap.”</p> - -<p>“Good-by!” called George to Tinkle as the -small boy walked away with his father. “I’ll -come back to see you soon,” and he waved his -hand at Tinkle and Tinkle waved his tail at -George. At least George thought so, though I -imagine that Tinkle was only brushing off a -tickling fly.</p> - -<p>But one thing I do know, and that was that -Tinkle really liked the little boy who patted -him so nicely.</p> - -<p>“He has very nice, soft hands,” said Tinkle -to Curley Mane, another pony, as they cropped -the sweet grass together. “I’m sure he would -be good to me.”</p> - -<p>“Are you going to live with him?” asked -Curley Mane.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t know,” Tinkle answered. “But -I’ve always noticed that whenever any strange -men or boys come to the farm here, in a few -days afterward some of the horses or ponies go -away, and I guess the men and boys take them.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, that is right,” said old Dapple Gray<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span> -walking up beside the two ponies. “You’ve -guessed it, Tinkle. The Man, here, raises us -horses to sell. I’ve been sold more than once.”</p> - -<p>“Is it nice to be sold?” asked Tinkle.</p> - -<p>“Well, it all depends,” was the answer. “The -first place I was sold to was not nice. I had -to draw a grocery wagon through the streets, -and the boy who sat on the seat used to strike -me with a whip.”</p> - -<p>“What did you do?” asked Curley Mane.</p> - -<p>“Well, I’m sorry to say I ran away. It wasn’t -the right thing to do, only I couldn’t help it. -I couldn’t stand being beaten. The boy fell off -the seat of the wagon, I ran so fast, and he -bumped his nose. Then the wagon was -smashed and I was cut and bruised and I had -a terrible time,” said Dapple Gray.</p> - -<p>“Then the grocery man brought me back here, -saying he didn’t want me, and after that I was -sold to some men that made me draw the big -shiny wagon that had a chimney spouting flames -and smoke. I was treated well there. I had -a nice stall with plenty of hay to eat and clean -straw to sleep on. Sometimes I had oats, and -I got so I could run very fast indeed.</p> - -<p>“But it was hard work, and I soon grew tired. -So they brought me back here again. That’s -what being sold means. You never can tell -where you’re going.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span></p> - -<p>“Do you think some of the horses here were -sold to that man and little boy?” asked Tinkle.</p> - -<p>“We can tell pretty soon,” answered Dapple -Gray, “by watching to see if any horses or ponies -are taken away.”</p> - -<p>And, surely enough, the next day one of the -men on the stock farm took away one of the -horses. He was called Hobble by the other -horses because, when he was a colt, he hurt his -foot on a sharp stone and had to hobble for a -week or two. But he soon got over that. And -Hobble was the horse George’s father had bought -for himself, though Mr. Carter named the horse -Prince.</p> - -<p>“Good-by!” called Hobble, or as we must -call him, Prince, to his friends as he was led -away from the stock farm. “Maybe I’ll see -some of you again before long.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe so,” called back Dapple Gray. -But neither he nor any one else knew what was -going to happen to Tinkle.</p> - -<p>When Prince had been driven to a big city, -a few miles away from the stock farm, he was -taken into a nice clean stable where there were -one or two other horses.</p> - -<p>“Ah, so that’s the new horse I bought, is it?” -asked a voice, and looking behind him, from -where he was tied in his stall, Prince saw Mr. -Farley. Of course Prince did not know the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span> -man’s name but he knew he was the same one -who had been at the stock farm.</p> - -<p>“I wonder,” thought Prince, “where the little -boy is that was patting Tinkle.”</p> - -<p>He did not have to wonder long for he soon -heard another voice calling:</p> - -<p>“Oh, Daddy! Did the new horse come?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, he’s in his stall,” said Mr. Farley.</p> - -<p>“And did he bring Tinkle?” asked George.</p> - -<p>“No, not yet. Tinkle won’t be ready for a -week or so. And I am not sure I am going to -get him for you.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes you are, Daddy! I know you are -when you smile that way!” cried Mabel, who, -with her little brother, had come out to the -stable. “Won’t we have fun, George,” she -cried gaily, “when we have a pony of our -own?”</p> - -<p>“We surely will!” said George.</p> - -<p>“Don’t be <em>too</em> sure,” returned Mr. Farley, -but he could not keep his eyes from laughing, -even if his lips did not smile.</p> - -<p>Prince soon made friends with the other -horses in Mr. Farley’s stable, and they rubbed -noses and talked among themselves in a way that -all horses have.</p> - -<p>And now I must go back to the stock farm to -see how Tinkle is getting on, for this story is -mostly about him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span></p> - -<p>“Well,” said Mr. Carter to one of his men a -day or two after Prince had been sold and taken -to Mr. Farley, “I think it is time we started -to train Tinkle, if that little boy George is to -have him. We want to get the pony used to -having a saddle on his back, and also teach -him how to draw a pony cart.”</p> - -<p>So Tinkle began to have his first lessons, for -animals like horses and dogs, as well as trained -animals in a circus, have to be taught lessons, -just as you are taught lessons in school. Only, -of course, the lessons are different.</p> - -<p>Tinkle was driven into the stable yard and -while one of the men was patting him and giving -him some oats to eat—which Tinkle liked -very much—another man slipped some leather -straps over the pony’s head. Tinkle did not like -this, for never, in all his life, had he felt anything -tied on his head before. He tried to run -away and shake it off, but he found himself held -tightly by a long strap, which was fast to the -other straps on his head.</p> - -<p>“I wonder what in the world this is?” thought -Tinkle, when he found he could not shake off -the straps. Afterward he learned it was a -halter, which is the rope, or strap, that is used -to keep a horse or pony tied in his stall. Sometimes -the straps, or ropes, are called a “head-stall.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span></p> - -<p>So this is what Tinkle was held fast by, and -when he found that no amount of pulling or -shaking would get it off his head he stood -quietly.</p> - -<p>“Maybe if I am good they’ll take it off anyhow,” -he thought.</p> - -<p>But Tinkle had many more lessons to learn. -I will not tell you all about them here, because -I know lessons aren’t any too much fun, though -we all have to learn them.</p> - -<p>So I’ll just say that after Tinkle had become -used to the halter he was given a bridle. This -was not so nice, as there was an iron thing fast -to it, called a “bit,” and this had to go in Tinkle’s -mouth so he could be driven.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t like this at all!” cried Tinkle -as he tried to get the bit out from between his -teeth. But it was held fast by straps, and a man -pulled first on one strap, and then on the other, -hauling Tinkle’s head to the left or right. Soon -the pony found that when his bit was pulled -to the left it meant he was to walk or run that -way, and so, also, when the other strap, or rein, -was pulled, he must go to the right. After a -while he did not mind the bit at all.</p> - -<p>Next Tinkle had to learn to have a saddle -fastened to his back. First a blanket was -strapped on him, and Tinkle tried to get this -off by rolling over and over. But the blanket<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span> -stayed on, for it was fastened by straps, and soon -the little pony did not mind that. Then when -the saddle was put on he thought it was only -another kind of blanket at first, and when he -came to know (for his mother told him) that all -horses and ponies had to wear saddles part of -the time Tinkle did not mind that.</p> - -<p>Tinkle was frightened when one of the boys -on the stock farm got in the saddle on the pony’s -back to have a ride. <a href="#i_p045">It was the first time Tinkle -had ever had any one on his back</a> and he -really was quite frightened. But he soon grew -used to that also, and trotted around, walking -and running as the boy told him to.</p> - -<p>“Well, Tinkle is learning quickly!” said Mr. -Carter one day. “As soon as he learns to draw -a pony cart he will be ready for that boy George -to drive.”</p> - -<p>Being hitched to a cart, with harness straps -all over him, did not feel comfortable to Tinkle -at first.</p> - -<p>“I don’t like this at all!” he thought. “It -isn’t any fun!” But he found he could not get -away from the cart, which followed him everywhere -because he was hitched fast to it. Then -he was driven about, made to turn around, and -to the left and to the right by a boy who rode in -the pony cart.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="i_p045" style="width: 376px;"> - <img src="images/i_p045.jpg" width="376" height="600" alt="" title="" /> - <br /> - <div class="caption"><a href="#Page_44">It was the first time Tinkle had ever had any one on his -back.</a></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>[46]</span></p> - -<p>“Well, I might as well make up my mind to -it,” said Tinkle, telling the other ponies what -had happened to him.</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed,” remarked Dapple Gray. -“That is what you ponies and we horses are -for—to give people rides, or to pull their wagons. -That is our life and if you are good -you will be treated kindly.”</p> - -<p>“Then I am going to be good,” said Tinkle.</p> - -<p>In another week the pony could be ridden -or driven very easily, and Mr. Carter sent word -to Mr. Farley to come and bring George with -him to the stock farm.</p> - -<p>“Oh, what a fine pony he is!” cried the little -boy as he saw how easily Tinkle was ridden and -driven. “Do get him for me, Daddy!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I think I’ll buy him,” said Mr. Farley, -so he paid Mr. Carter for the pony. Tinkle -was taken to his new home, George and his -father riding in the pony cart. Mr. Farley -drove, but let George hold the reins part of -the time.</p> - -<p>“For you must learn to drive if you are going -to have a real live pony,” said George’s father.</p> - -<p>So Tinkle left the stock farm, and went to -live in his new home, a big city stable.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>[47]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V<br /> -<small>TINKLE’S FRIENDS</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">“Well, I never expected to see you -here!” exclaimed a whinnying voice -as Tinkle was led into his stall. The -little pony looked up in surprise and saw a big -horse.</p> - -<p>“Oh! Why, hello, Hobble!” cried Tinkle, -as he saw the horse that used to live on the stock -farm with him.</p> - -<p>“My name isn’t Hobble any more—it’s -Prince.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well. Hello, then, Prince!” called Tinkle -in a cordial, off-hand manner, for he now felt -quite grown up. Had he not been hitched up, -and had he not carried a boy on his back? “I -didn’t know you were here.”</p> - -<p>“And I didn’t know <em>you</em> were coming,” observed -Prince. “How is everything back on -the farm?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, there’s not much change. I was sorry -to come away and leave my father and mother.”</p> - -<p>“Well, that’s the way things happen in this -world,” said Prince. “We are colts for a little<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span> -while, and then some of us grow to be big -horses or grown-up ponies and have to go away -from our friends. It’s just the same with men -and women, I’ve heard. But you’ll like it -here.”</p> - -<p>“Is it nice?” asked Tinkle.</p> - -<p>“Nice? I should say it is! Of course, I miss -being out in the big, green, grassy meadow. -But I get plenty to eat here, and every day a -man scratches my back—”</p> - -<p>“Scratches your back?” cried Tinkle. “I -don’t believe I should like that!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes you will,” said Prince. “You can’t -imagine how your back begins to itch and ache -when you’ve been in the harness all day. And -when a man uses a brush and comb on you—”</p> - -<p>“A brush and comb!” cried Tinkle. “Come, -you’re joking! I know men and women, as well -as boys and girls, use brushes and combs, but -ponies or horses—”</p> - -<p>“Yes, we really have our own brushes and -combs, though they are different from those -which humans use,” said Prince. “The brush -is a big one, more like a broom, and the comb -is made of iron and is called a currycomb. But -they make your skin nice and clean and shiny. -You’ll like them.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe,” said Tinkle. “Is anything else different -here from what it was on the farm?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, lots and lots of things. You have to -have shoes on your feet.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, now I’m <em>sure</em> you’re fooling me!” cried -Tinkle in horse-talk. “Who ever heard of -ponies having shoes!”</p> - -<p>“Well, of course they’re not <em>leather</em> shoes, -such as boys and girls wear,” went on Prince. -“They are made of iron, and they are nailed on -your hoofs.”</p> - -<p>“Nailed on!” cried Tinkle. “Oh, doesn’t -that hurt?”</p> - -<p>“Not a bit when a good blacksmith does it,” -explained Prince. “You see our hoofs are just -like the finger nails of boys and girls. It doesn’t -hurt to cut their finger nails, if they don’t cut -them down too close, and it doesn’t hurt to -fasten the iron shoes on our hoofs with sharp -nails. Don’t you remember how Dapple Gray -used to tell about his iron shoes making sparks -on the paving stones in the city when he ran -and pulled that funny shiny wagon with the -chimney?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes,” answered Tinkle; “I do remember. -Well, I suppose I’ll have to be shod then.”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” returned Prince. “If you don’t -have the iron shoes on your hoofs they would -get sore when you ran around on the stony -streets. A city is not like our green meadow. -There are very few soft dirt roads here. That<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>[50]</span> -is one thing I don’t like about a city. Still there -is always something going on here, and lots to -see and do, and that makes up for it, I guess.”</p> - -<p>“I wonder how I shall like it,” thought -Tinkle. “But first I must see what my new -home is like.”</p> - -<p>He looked around the stable. It was a large -one, and there were a number of stalls in it. In -each one was a horse, like Prince, munching his -oats or chewing hay. Tinkle saw that his stall -was different from the others. It was like a big -box, and, in fact, was called a “box stall.” -Tinkle did not have to be tied fast with a rope -or a strap to the manger, which is the place where -the feed for the ponies and horses is put. There -was a manger in Tinkle’s stall and he could -walk up to it whenever he felt hungry.</p> - -<p>Tinkle did not remember much about the -stable at home on the farm, as he was hardly -ever in it. Night and day, during the warm -Summer, he stayed out in the green meadow, -sleeping near his mother under a tree.</p> - -<p>Tinkle was kicking the straw around in his -stall, making a nice soft bed on which he could -lie down and go to sleep, when George, who had -gone into the house to get something to eat after -driving with his father from the stock farm, -came running out to the stable again.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span></p> - -<p>“How’s my pony?” cried George. “How’s -my Tinkle?”</p> - -<p>Tinkle made a sort of laughing sound—whinnying—for -he now knew George’s voice and he -liked the little boy.</p> - -<p>“Here’s something nice for you!” cried -George.</p> - -<p>“Oh, what are you going to give him?” asked -Mabel, who had come home from school and -who had also hurried out to see Tinkle.</p> - -<p>“I’m going to give him some sugar,” answered -George. “I took some lumps from the bowl -on the table. Mother said I might.”</p> - -<p>“Are you going to let him eat them out of -your hand?” asked the little girl.</p> - -<p>“Of course,” answered George.</p> - -<p>“Won’t he bite you?”</p> - -<p>“Not if you hold out your hand flat, like a -board,” said George. “The man at the farm -showed me. Put the sugar on the palm of your -hand, open it out flat and a horse can pick up -a lump of sugar, or an apple without biting you -a teeny weeny bit. Look!”</p> - -<p>George opened the top half of the door to -the box stall where Tinkle had his home and -held out on his hand the lump of sugar. Tinkle -came over, smelled of the lump to make sure -it was good for him to eat, and then he gently<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span> -took it in his soft lips, and began to chew the -sweet stuff.</p> - -<p>“Oh, isn’t that cute!” cried Mabel. “Let me -feed Tinkle some sugar.”</p> - -<p>Her brother gave her a lump, and she held it -out on her hand. Tinkle, having eaten the first -lump, which he liked very much, was quite -ready for the second. He took it from Mabel’s -hand as gently as he had taken it from -George’s.</p> - -<p>“Oh, he is a lovely pony!” cried the little girl. -“How soon can we have a ride on him?”</p> - -<p>“Well, you can ride him around the yard -now,” said her father, who had come out to the -stable. “But before he is driven around the -city streets he must be shod. I’ll send him to a -blacksmith. But for a while now you and -George may take turns riding him. I’ll have -Patrick saddle him for you.”</p> - -<p>Patrick was Mr. Farley’s coachman, and -knew a great deal about horses and ponies. -The pony cart which Mr. Farley had bought -from the stockman, together with a harness and -saddle for Tinkle, had been put away. Patrick -now brought out the saddle, and, after putting -a blanket on the pony, fastened on the saddle -with straps.</p> - -<p>“Now who’s to ride first?” asked the coachman.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span></p> - -<p>“Let Mabel,” said George, politely. “Ladies -always go first.”</p> - -<p>“I’d rather you’d go first so I can see how you -do it,” said the little girl, and George was glad, -for he did want very much to get on Tinkle’s -back again. He had ridden a little at the stock -farm and, oh! it was such fun!</p> - -<p>Patrick helped George into the saddle, and -then led Tinkle about the yard, for Mr. Farley -wanted to make sure the pony would be safe -for his little boy to ride.</p> - -<p>“I’ll be very careful,” said Tinkle to himself. -“George and his sister are going to be kind to -me, I’m sure. I’ll not run away.”</p> - -<p>Tinkle remembered what his father and -mother had told him about behaving when he -was in the harness, or had a saddle on.</p> - -<p>“And if I’m good,” thought the pony, “maybe -I’ll get more lumps of sugar.”</p> - -<p>“Let him go now and see if I can drive him,” -said George to Patrick. So the coachman -stepped aside and George held the reins in his -own hands.</p> - -<p>“Gid-dap, Tinkle!” cried George, and the -pony knew this meant to go a little faster. So -he began to trot on the soft, green grass of the -big yard about the Farley home.</p> - -<p>“Oh, how nice!” cried Mabel, clapping her -hands.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>[54]</span></p> - -<p>“Yes, it’s lots of fun!” laughed George. “Go -on, Tinkle.”</p> - -<p>When George had ridden twice around the -yard it was Mabel’s turn. At first she was a -little afraid, but her father held her in the saddle, -and she could soon sit on alone and guide -Tinkle, who did not go as fast with her as he had -gone with George.</p> - -<p>“For she might fall off, and I wouldn’t want -that to happen,” thought Tinkle. “They might -say it was my fault, and give me no more lumps -of sugar.”</p> - -<p>While Mabel was riding, another boy and a -girl came into the yard. They were Tommie -and Nellie Hall, who lived next door.</p> - -<p>“Oh, what a lovely pony!” they cried. -“Where did you get him?”</p> - -<p>“My father bought him for Mabel and me,” -explained George. “See how soft his hair is,” -and he patted Tinkle. Tommie and Nellie -also patted the pony and called him all sorts -of nice names.</p> - -<p>“My! I think I am going to like it here,” -thought Tinkle. “I have four new, good, little -friends. I will try to make them love me.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>[55]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI<br /> -<small>TINKLE MEETS DIDO</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">Every morning, as soon as he had eaten -his breakfast, George would run out to -the stable to see Tinkle. He would rub -the soft, velvety nose of his pet pony, or bring -him a piece of bread or a lump of sugar. Sometimes -Mabel, too, would come out with her -brother to look at Tinkle before she went to -school.</p> - -<p>“And when we come back from school we’ll -have a ride on your back,” said George, waving -his hand to Tinkle.</p> - -<p>A few days after he had been brought to his -new home Tinkle had been taken to a blacksmith’s -shop and small iron shoes had been -fastened to the pony’s hoofs.</p> - -<p>At first Tinkle was afraid he was going to -be hurt, but he thought of what Dapple Gray -and the other horses had told him and made up -his mind—if ponies have minds—that he would -stand a little pain if he had to. But he did not. -The blacksmith was kind and gentle, and though -it felt a bit funny at first, when he lifted up one -of Tinkle’s legs, the pony soon grew used to it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span></p> - -<p>It felt queer, too, when the iron shoes were -nailed on. And when Tinkle stood on his four -newly shod feet he hardly knew whether he -could step out properly or not. But he soon -found that it was all right.</p> - -<p>“I’m taller with my new shoes on than in my -bare hoofs,” said Tinkle to himself, and he was -taller—about an inch I guess. The clatter and -clang of his iron shoes on the paving stones -sounded like music to Tinkle, and he soon found -that it was better for him to have iron shoes on -than to run over the stones in his hoofs, which -would soon have worn down so that his feet -would have hurt.</p> - -<p>“Now Tinkle is ready to give us a ride in the -little cart!” cried George when his pony had -come home from the blacksmith shop.</p> - -<p>“Take Patrick with you so as to make sure -you know how to drive, and how to handle -Tinkle,” said Mrs. Farley, as George and Mabel -made ready for their first real drive—outside -the yard this time.</p> - -<p>George and Mabel got into the pony cart, -George taking the reins, while Mabel sat beside -him. Patrick, the coachman, sat in the back of -the cart, ready to help if he were needed.</p> - -<p>“Gid-dap!” called George, and he headed the -pony down the driveway. “Gid-dap, Tinkle,” -and Tinkle trotted along.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>[57]</span></p> - -<p>“Don’t they look cute!” exclaimed Mrs. -Farley to her husband as they watched the children -from the dining room window. “I hope -nothing happens to them.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, they’ll be all right,” said her husband. -“Tinkle is a kind and gentle pony. Besides -there is Patrick. He’ll know just what to do if -anything should happen.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I hope nothing does,” said Mrs. Farley. -“There! they’ve stopped! I wonder what -for.”</p> - -<p>The pony cart had stopped at the driveway -gates, and Patrick, with a queer smile on his -face, came walking back.</p> - -<p>“What is it?” asked Mrs. Farley. “Did anything -happen—and so soon?”</p> - -<p>“No’m,” replied the coachman, “but Master -George wants to know if you’d like to have him -bring anything from the store. He says he’d -like to buy something for you.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” and Mrs. Farley laughed. “Well, I -don’t know that I need any groceries. But I -suppose he wants to do an errand in the new -cart. So tell him he may get a pound of loaf -sugar. He and Mabel can feed the lumps to -Tinkle.”</p> - -<p>“Very well, ma’am, I’ll tell him,” and, touching -his hat, Patrick went back to George and -Mabel.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>[58]</span></p> - -<p>“Well, I guess everything is all right,” -thought Tinkle to himself as he trotted along -in front of the pony cart, hauling George, -Mabel and Patrick. “It’s a good deal easier -than I thought, and my new iron shoes feel -fine!”</p> - -<p>So he trotted along merrily, and George and -his sister, sitting in the pony cart, enjoyed their -ride very much. George drove Tinkle along -the streets, turning him now to the left, by pulling -on the left rein, and again to the other side -by jerking gently on the right rein.</p> - -<p>“Am I doing all right, Patrick?” asked the -little boy.</p> - -<p>“Fine, Master George,” answered the coachman. -“You drive as well as anybody.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll let you take a turn soon, Mabel,” said -George.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t want to—just yet,” replied the -little girl. “I want to watch and see how you -do it. Besides, I’d be afraid to drive where -there are so many horses and wagons,” for they -were on the main street of the city.</p> - -<p>“You’ll soon get so you can do as well as -Master George,” declared Patrick. “Tinkle is -an easy pony to manage.”</p> - -<p>As George and Mabel traveled on in their -pony cart, they met several of their playmates -who waved their hands to the Farley children.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>[59]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="i_p059" style="width: 379px;"> - <img src="images/i_p059.jpg" width="379" height="600" alt="" title="" /> - <br /> - <div class="caption"><a href="#Page_60">“Oh, what a nice pony cart!” cried the boys and girls.</a></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>[60]</span></p> - -<p><a href="#i_p059">“Oh, what a nice pony cart!” cried the boys -and girls.</a></p> - -<p>“I’ll give you a ride, some day,” promised -George.</p> - -<p>He and Mabel were soon at the store, and, -going in, they bought the loaf sugar. Patrick -stayed out in the pony cart, and Tinkle stood -still next to the curb. Near him was a horse -hitched to a wagon full of coal.</p> - -<p>“Hello, my little pony!” called the coal-horse. -“You have a fine rig there.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, it is pretty nice,” said Tinkle, and he -was sure he must look very gorgeous, for Mabel -had tied a blue ribbon in his mane that morning.</p> - -<p>“You’re quite stylish,” went on the coal-horse.</p> - -<p>“Well, I s’pose you <em>might</em> call it that,” admitted -Tinkle.</p> - -<p>“It’s much more fun to be pulling a light, -little cart like that around the city streets, than -to haul a great big heavy coal wagon, such as -I am hitched to,” went on the big horse.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but see how strong you are!” observed -Tinkle. “I never could pull such a heavy load -as you haul.”</p> - -<p>“No, I guess you couldn’t,” said the coal horse. -“Especially up some of the hills we have. It is -almost more than I can do, and there is one hill<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>[61]</span> -that I have to take a rest on, half way up, but -my driver is good to me, and never whips me, -which is more than I can say of some drivers I -have known. So I guess, after all, it is better -for you to draw the pony cart and for me to stick -to the coal wagon.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed it is,” said a horse that was hitched -to one of the grocery wagons. “You’d look -funny, coal-horse, trying to fit between the shafts -of that pony cart.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose I would,” admitted the other, -laughing, in a way horses have among themselves.</p> - -<p>When George and Mabel came out of the -store, with the bag of sugar lumps, they saw the -two horses—one hitched to a coal wagon and the -other to a grocery cart—rubbing noses with -Tinkle.</p> - -<p>“They’re kissing each other,” laughed the -little girl.</p> - -<p>But the horses and the pony were really talking -among themselves, and even Patrick, much -as he knew about animals, did not understand -horse-talk.</p> - -<p>“Let’s give Tinkle some sugar now,” said -Mabel.</p> - -<p>“All right,” answered George, so they gave -the pony two lumps.</p> - -<p>“My, that sugar certainly smells good!” exclaimed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>[62]</span> -the horse that was hitched to the coal -wagon.</p> - -<p>“It certainly does,” said the other horse, sniffing -hard through his nose, for the air was filled -with the sweet smell of the sugar lumps Tinkle -was eating. “You might think,” went on the -grocery horse, “that, working for a store, as I -do, I’d get a lump of sugar once in a while.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you?” asked Tinkle, reaching out for -another sweet lump George offered him.</p> - -<p>“Never a bit!” said the grocery-horse, “and -I just love it!”</p> - -<p>“So do I,” said the coal-horse.</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry I didn’t offer you some,” apologized -Tinkle. “But it’s too late now. I’ve -swallowed it.”</p> - -<p>Just then Mabel thought of something nice.</p> - -<p>“Oh, George!” she cried. “Let’s give the two -horses some of Tinkle’s sugar. I guess horses -like sweet stuff the same as ponies. Don’t they, -Patrick?” she asked the coachman.</p> - -<p>“Sure they do, Miss Mabel,” he answered. -“Sure they do!”</p> - -<p>“Then give them some, George,” she begged. -“We have more than enough for Tinkle.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said the little boy. So he held -out two lumps of sugar to the coal horse, and two -to the grocery horse, and I just wish you could -have seen how glad those horses were to get the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>[63]</span> -sweet stuff. If they could have talked man language -they would have thanked George and -Mabel, but as it was they could only say to one -another and to Tinkle:</p> - -<p>“Well, you certainly have a good home with -such nice children in it.”</p> - -<p>“I’m glad you think so,” whinnied Tinkle to -them, and he felt very happy.</p> - -<p>George and Mabel drove home in their pony -cart, carrying what was left of the bag of sugar. -When they were near their home, and on a quiet -street, George let his sister take the reins so -she would learn how to handle them. Patrick -watched the little girl carefully and told her -how and when to pull, so Tinkle would go to the -right or to the left, and also around the corners.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mother! now I know how to drive!” -cried Mabel as she ran into the house to tell her -father and Mrs. Farley about their first trip -downtown in the new pony cart.</p> - -<p>After that George and Mabel had many rides -behind Tinkle, even in the Winter, when they -hitched him to a little sled. The little pony -grew to like his little boy and girl friends very -much indeed, and they loved him dearly. They -would hug him and pat him whenever they went -out to the stable where he was, and feed him -lumps of sugar. When Spring came they took -long rides in the country.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>[64]</span></p> - -<p>One day a funny thing happened to Tinkle. -He had been hitched to the pony cart which was -tied to a post in front of the house, waiting for -George and Mabel to come out. And then, -from somewhere down the street sounded the -tooting of a horn, and a queer odor, which made -him tremble, came to the pony’s nostrils.</p> - -<p>“I wonder what that is?” said Tinkle to himself. -Very soon he found out.</p> - -<p>Along came a man wearing a red cap, and -every once in a while he would put a brass horn -to his mouth and blow a tooting tune. But this -was not what surprised Tinkle most. What did, -was a big shaggy animal, that the man was leading -by a chain. And when Tinkle saw the -shaggy creature he was afraid. But the other -animal, rising up on its hind legs said:</p> - -<p>“Don’t be afraid of me, little pony. I won’t -hurt you!”</p> - -<p>“Who are you?” asked Tinkle, wonderingly.</p> - -<p>“I am Dido, the dancing bear,” was the answer, -“and I have had many adventures that have -been put into a book.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65"></a>[65]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII<br /> -<small>TINKLE DOES SOME TRICKS</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">For a few seconds Tinkle stood looking at -Dido, the dancing bear, not knowing what -to do or say. Some ponies would have -been afraid of a bear. They would have -snorted, stood on their hind legs, and maybe have -run away. But Tinkle had never seen a bear -before, no one had ever told him about them, -and he really did not know enough to be afraid. -Besides, Dido seemed such a funny, good-natured -and happy bear that I believe no one would -have been afraid of him.</p> - -<p>“So you are Dido, the dancing bear, are you?” -asked Tinkle. “And you say you are in a book. -What does that mean?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you,” went on Dido, while his master, -the man who blew such jolly tunes on the brass -horn, was picking up some apples that had fallen -from a roadside tree. He let Dido walk on -ahead, without even a string tied to him, for he -knew that Dido would not run away.</p> - -<p>“You see, it’s this way,” went on the dancing -bear. “Years ago I used to live in the woods<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66"></a>[66]</span> -with my father and mother, sisters and brothers.”</p> - -<p>“I never lived in the woods,” said Tinkle, “but -I lived in a big, green field.”</p> - -<p>“That was nice,” murmured Dido. “I have -been in the fields, too. Well, one day I was -caught by a man, who took me away. At first -I did not like it, but the man was good to me -and taught me to do tricks.”</p> - -<p>“What are tricks?” asked the pony, for he -could speak all animal languages as well as understand -them.</p> - -<p>“Tricks are—well, I’ll show you in a minute,” -went on Dido. “The man was good to -me, as I said, and taught me tricks. Then I was -sold to a circus and I had lots of good times -with Tum Tum, the jolly elephant and Mappo -the merry monkey. They are in books, too.”</p> - -<p>“What are books?” asked Tinkle. “Are they -good, like sugar; and do you eat them?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no!” laughed Dido. “Books are funny -things, like blocks of wood; only you can open -them, like a door, you know, and inside are funny -black marks on paper that is white, like the snow. -Boys and girls, and men and women, open these -funny things called books and look at them for -ever and ever so long.”</p> - -<p>“Why do they do that?” asked Tinkle.</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t really know,” said Dido. “But -after they have looked at the books, turning over<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67"></a>[67]</span> -the white things with the black marks on, called -leaves, the boys and girls laugh.”</p> - -<p>“Why?” Tinkle demanded.</p> - -<p>“Because of the funny things printed on -them,” answered Dido. “You see in my book -are set down all the things I did. And the -things Mappo did and the things Tum Tum did -are in their books. Some of the things were -funny, and that is what makes the boys and girls -laugh. Tum Tum’s book is enough to make any -one laugh. He is a very jolly elephant.”</p> - -<p>“Is it fashionable to be in a book?” asked -Tinkle. “I have quite a stylish pony cart here, -as you can see, so if being in a book is—”</p> - -<p>“Of <em>course</em> it’s fashionable to be in a book!” -exclaimed Dido. “You should see the funny -pictures of <em>me</em> in <em>my</em> book.”</p> - -<p>And I might say, right here, that the books -that Dido spoke of really exist, besides others -about different animals. And this book is about -Tinkle, as you can see for yourself. Maybe the -little pony will be quite surprised when he finds -what has been set down about him.</p> - -<p>“Toot! Toot! Toot!” blew the horn again, -and the man who owned Dido, having picked -up all the apples he wanted, came walking along -the road. Dido had been in a circus for some -time, but now he was out again, traveling around -the country doing tricks.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68"></a>[68]</span></p> - -<p>“Ah, you have met a friend, I see, Dido!” remarked -the man, who had little gold rings in his -ears. “A little pony, eh? Well, where there is -a pony there must be children, and I think they -will like to see your tricks, Dido. Come, we’ll -get ready for them.”</p> - -<p>The man blew another merry tune on his horn, -and just then George and Mabel came running -out of the house, ready to go driving in the pony -cart.</p> - -<p>“Oh, see the bear!” cried Mabel.</p> - -<p>“And look at what he is doing!” added -George. For, just then the man told Dido to -turn a somersault, and this the bear did.</p> - -<p>“That’s one of my tricks,” said Dido to Tinkle, -though of course George and Mabel did not -know the two animals were speaking to one another, -for they talked in a low whisper.</p> - -<p>“Oh, so that’s a trick, is it?” asked Tinkle in -surprise.</p> - -<p>“Yes, and I can do others. Wait, I’m going -to do some more,” went on Dido.</p> - -<p>“Come now, Dido! Show the little boy and -girl how you play soldier!” called the man and -he tossed a stick to the bear. Dido clasped it in -his paws, held it over one shoulder just as though -it were a gun and marched around in a ring -standing up stiff and straight like a soldier on -parade.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a>[69]</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s great!” cried George.</p> - -<p>“Is he a trained bear, Mister?” asked Mabel.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes he is a good trained bear,” answered -the man. “I have taught him to do many tricks. -Now stand on your head, Dido,” and Dido stood -on his head without so much as blinking his eye. -Only he could not stand that way very long because -he was quite a fat and heavy bear now. -But he did very well.</p> - -<p>“Can he do any more tricks?” asked George, -and by this time Patrick, the coachman, Mary -the cook, and Mrs. Farley had come out to watch -Dido.</p> - -<p>“I will have him climb a pole,” said the man, -pointing to a telegraph pole in front of the -Farley home. “Up you go, Dido!” he called, -and the bear walked slowly over to the smooth -pole. He stuck his sharp claws into the soft wood, -and up and up he climbed until he was nearly -at the top. Then he climbed down again while -Mabel and George clapped their hands and -laughed.</p> - -<p>“He is a fine bear,” said George. “I wonder -if he would eat sugar as Tinkle, my pony, -does?”</p> - -<p>“Try him and see,” answered the man, with a -laugh.</p> - -<p>“Won’t he bite?” asked Mabel, as George took -some lumps of sugar from his pocket.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a>[70]</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, no. Dido never bites,” answered his -master. “He is a very gentle bear.”</p> - -<p>George held a lump of sugar on his hand. -Up Dido walked to the little boy.</p> - -<p>“Don’t dare bite him!” said Tinkle to Dido, -speaking in animal talk, of course.</p> - -<p>“Oh, no fear!” exclaimed Dido. “I wouldn’t -bite him for the world. Just watch!” Then -Dido put out his big red tongue to which the -lump of sugar stuck, just like a postage stamp, -and, in another second, it had slid down Dido’s -red throat.</p> - -<p>“Oh, wasn’t that cute?” cried Mabel.</p> - -<p>Then Dido did more tricks, and after Mrs. -Farley had given the man some money he and -Dido walked on down the road.</p> - -<p>“Good-by, children!” called the man.</p> - -<p>“Good-by,” answered George and Mabel, -waving their hands.</p> - -<p>“Good-by, Tinkle!” called Dido. “Perhaps -some day I may see you again.”</p> - -<p>“I hope so,” called back the pony. “I want -to hear more about being in a book and about -Tum Tum and Mappo.”</p> - -<p>“They are in the circus now, I think,” said -Dido. “If you ever go to the circus you may -meet them.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe I ever shall,” said Tinkle. -But you just wait and see what happens.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71"></a>[71]</span></p> - -<p>“Well, go for your drive now, children,” said -Mrs. Farley. “And don’t let Tinkle run away -with you.”</p> - -<p>“We won’t,” answered George, laughingly. -And as he and Mabel drove away, Patrick not -going with them this time, George said: “I -wish I could teach Tinkle some tricks.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, wouldn’t that be great!” exclaimed -Mabel. “I once saw a trick pony in a show. -He could bow and tell how old he was by pawing -on the ground with his hoof.”</p> - -<p>“Then I’m going to teach Tinkle some tricks,” -said George. “And when he learns them we’ll -take him around the country and show him off -and earn money.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, how nice!” cried Mabel, clapping her -hands.</p> - -<p>When George and Mabel got back from their -drive George spoke to his father about teaching -Tinkle to do some tricks.</p> - -<p>“I hardly think you can,” said Mr. Farley. -“But you may try. Better ask Patrick about it, -though. He knows a lot about horses and -ponies.”</p> - -<p>“Teach Tinkle tricks, is it?” asked Patrick -when George spoke to the coachman about it. -“Well, maybe you can. He’s young yet. You -can’t teach an old pony tricks any more than you -can teach an old dog. We’ll try some day.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72"></a>[72]</span></p> - -<p>A few days after this Patrick called George -out to the stable yard where Tinkle was standing.</p> - -<p>“What are you going to do?” asked George.</p> - -<p>“Teach Tinkle his first trick,” was the answer. -“He is going to learn how to jump over -a stick.” Patrick put two boxes, about two feet -high, on the ground and laid a stick across them. -He led the pony close to the stick and stood there -beside him.</p> - -<p>“Now, Master George, you stand on the other -side of the stick, and hold out these lumps of -sugar,” said Patrick. “We will see what Tinkle -will do.”</p> - -<p>George held out the sugar a few feet away -from Tinkle’s nose. Tinkle could smell it, and -he wanted it very much.</p> - -<p>“Go get it!” called Patrick, letting loose the -halter strap he had been holding. “Go get the -sugar, Tinkle.”</p> - -<p>Instead of jumping across the stick, as they -wanted him to do, Tinkle walked right against -it and knocked it off the boxes.</p> - -<p>“That won’t do!” cried Patrick. “Don’t give -him the sugar, Master George, until he jumps -over the stick.”</p> - -<p>So George held the sugar behind his back, and -Tinkle was quite disappointed at not getting it.</p> - -<p>“I wonder what they want me to do, and why -they put that stick in front of me?” thought the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73"></a>[73]</span> -little pony. Patrick placed the stick back on -the boxes, and this time he nailed it fast so the -pony could not easily knock it off. Then the -coachman held the pony as before and George -put the lumps of sugar out on his hand again.</p> - -<p>Once more Tinkle walked forward to get -them, but this time he could not knock the stick -down with his legs. He shoved the boxes aside, -though, and again Patrick led him back.</p> - -<p>“Jump over the stick, Tinkle! Jump over the -stick and I’ll give you the sugar!” called George. -And then, after two or three more times, Tinkle -understood. He found that stick always in his -way when he wanted to get the sweet sugar, and -finally he thought of the fence he had once -jumped over.</p> - -<p>“I guess that’s what they want me to do -now!” he said. And with a jump, over the stick -he went. Tinkle had done his first trick!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74"></a>[74]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII<br /> -<small>TINKLE IS TAKEN AWAY</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">“That’s fine!” cried George, as Tinkle, -after having jumped over the stick, -came trotting up to get the sugar. -“Soon you’ll be as good as Dido, the dancing -bear.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I guess I did pretty well for a beginner,” -thought Tinkle to himself, as he crunched -the sugar in his strong white teeth. “Now I -hope they will let me alone, or else drive me -hitched to the cart or ride on my back.”</p> - -<p>But George and the coachman were not yet -through with Tinkle. They wanted to be sure -he understood how to do the trick. So they set -up the stick again, and George held out more -sugar. This time the pony knew what to do at -once, and, with a bound, over the stick he went.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I want Mabel to see this!” cried George. -“Come on out!” he called to his sister. “Come -on out and see Tinkle do a trick!”</p> - -<p>Mabel was as much pleased as was her -brother. She, too, held out the sugar and -Tinkle came to her as he had to George, leaping<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75"></a>[75]</span> -over the stick. Tinkle would do almost anything -for lumps of sugar.</p> - -<p>“Well, this is enough for the first day,” said -the coachman to the children. “We don’t want -Tinkle to get tired. Go take him for a drive -now, and to-morrow we can teach him other -tricks.”</p> - -<p>Off in the pony cart rode the two children. -Half-way down the street they met Tommie and -Nellie Hall, and invited them to have a drive.</p> - -<p>“Did you see the trained bear?” asked Tommie -of George. “A man was leading him past our -house. He did a lot of tricks.”</p> - -<p>“We’re going to teach our pony to do tricks -like those,” cried Mabel.</p> - -<p>“No! Really?” exclaimed Nellie, in surprise.</p> - -<p>“Yes, we are,” added George. “He can do -one trick already—jump over a stick,” and he -told how Tinkle had been taught.</p> - -<p>“I’d like to see him do that,” said Tommie. -“But there’s one trick Dido the bear did that -your pony can never do.”</p> - -<p>“What is that?” Mabel asked.</p> - -<p>“Climb a telegraph pole!” said Tommie with -a laugh.</p> - -<p>“That’s right,” admitted George. “Tinkle -never could do that. But I don’t want him to. -To-morrow we are going to teach him a new -trick.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76"></a>[76]</span></p> - -<p>The next day George went out to the stable -to ask Patrick what trick it would be best next -to teach the pony.</p> - -<p>“Let us see if he has forgotten his first trick,” -said the coachman. Once more the stick was -laid across the boxes and, standing on the other -side of it, George held out the sugar. Tinkle -jumped over at once, higher than he had ever -before gone, for, now that he knew jumping was -what his little master wanted, the pony made up -his mind to do his very best.</p> - -<p>“Yes, he hasn’t forgotten that trick,” said Patrick. -“Now we’ll teach him to make a bow.”</p> - -<p>“How do you do that?” asked George.</p> - -<p>“I’ll show you,” Patrick answered.</p> - -<p>He put some soft straw on the ground in front -of the pony. Then the coachman tied a rope -around Tinkle’s left foreleg. Standing off a -little way, behind, and to one side of Tinkle, -Patrick pulled gently on the rope, at the same -time saying:</p> - -<p>“Make a bow, Tinkle! Make a bow!”</p> - -<p>Of course Tinkle did not know then what the -words meant, but when he felt the pull on his -leg from the rope it seemed as though his leg -was being pulled from under him. And that is -what Patrick was doing, only so gently that it -did not hurt.</p> - -<p>Then the coachman said again:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77"></a>[77]</span></p> - -<p>“Make a bow, Tinkle!”</p> - -<p>The pony suddenly felt his leg slipping and as -it bent he came down on one knee on the soft -straw.</p> - -<p>“Oh, he did make a bow!” cried George; and -that is just what it looked like.</p> - -<p>“Give him a lump of sugar!” said Patrick. -“Then he’ll know he is to get a lump when he -makes another bow.”</p> - -<p>The coachman loosed his hold of the rope -and Tinkle quickly scrambled to his feet. He -was not in the least hurt, but he was a little -puzzled.</p> - -<p>“I wonder what they are trying to do to me?” -he asked himself. But he was glad when he -found George had another lump of sugar for -him. “This part of it is all right, anyhow,” -thought the pony.</p> - -<p>Once again he heard Patrick call:</p> - -<p>“Make a bow, Tinkle. Make a bow!” -Again came that tug on the rope which pulled -Tinkle’s leg from under him, so that he had to -bend down and bow.</p> - -<p>“That’s the way to do it!” cried Patrick. -“More sugar for the pony, Master George!”</p> - -<p>“Now I begin to understand!” said Tinkle to -himself. “This is just like jumping over the -stick—only different. Ah, I have it! These -are the tricks Dido was telling me about. Now<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a>[78]</span> -I know what they are doing it for. I am to be -a trick pony! And maybe I’ll be in the circus -with Tum Tum and Mappo.”</p> - -<p>But you will have to wait a little while to find -out if that part came true.</p> - -<p>“Now we’ll try it again,” said the coachman as -Tinkle got up and stood on the soft straw. -“Make another bow, Tinkle!” he called.</p> - -<p>The pony heard the word “bow,” he felt the -gentle pull on the rope that was tied to his leg. -This time he did not wait for his leg to be pulled -from beneath him, but he bowed of his own -accord, and then George gave him the sugar.</p> - -<p>“He is beginning to know what we want of -him,” said the coachman. “Now he can do two -tricks.”</p> - -<p>“And soon I can take him around the country -and show him off,” cried George, in great delight.</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t know about that,” laughed Patrick. -“I guess your father and mother wouldn’t -like that. But you can have him do tricks at -home here for your friends.”</p> - -<p>Tinkle was a smart little pony and in a few -days all George had to do was to say “Jump!” -and Tinkle would jump over two or even three -sticks laid across boxes. And when George -said: “Make a bow!” Tinkle would kneel down -almost as politely as some dancers I have seen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79"></a>[79]</span></p> - -<p>“Are there any other tricks you can teach -Tinkle?” asked George of the coachman one -day.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, plenty more,” was the answer. -“We’ll try to get him to stand on his hind legs -and walk around. It is pretty hard but I guess -he can do it.”</p> - -<p>Tinkle was longer in learning this trick than -he had been in learning how to do the other two -put together. Patrick and George were kind -and patient, however. Patrick, with another -man to help him, put Tinkle in front of a board -laid across two water pails. They set Tinkle’s -front feet on the board and then with Patrick -at one end, and the man at the other, they lifted -up the board with Tinkle’s feet resting on it and -started to walk. And Tinkle walked too, because -George stood in front of him with a nice -red apple, and as the pony reached for it George -kept backing away.</p> - -<p>Of course Tinkle wanted the apple, so he kept -on walking. Only, as his front feet were resting -on the board, the pony could walk on his hind -feet only, but he was soon doing this without -knowing it. <a href="#i_p081">It took a little time to make him -stand up on his hind legs without anything on -which to rest his front feet</a>, but after a bit he -understood what was wanted of him. Then he -remembered how he had seen horses in the green<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80"></a>[80]</span> -meadow, where he used to live, rear up on their -hind legs in play sometimes.</p> - -<p>“Why that’s just what I’m doing,” thought -Tinkle, and then it came easier for him. He -could soon walk half the length of the stable -yard on his hind legs, with his forefeet held up -in the air.</p> - -<p>“That’s three tricks Tinkle can do,” said -George in delight as the pony pranced around -on his hind legs. “He will soon be able to join -a circus.”</p> - -<p>“But you won’t let him, will you?” asked -Mabel. “You won’t let Tinkle go away, -George, I like him too much.”</p> - -<p>“And so do I,” answered her brother. “Indeed -I won’t let Tinkle go away.”</p> - -<p>But one day something sad happened to Tinkle. -Mr. and Mrs. Farley with George and -Mabel went on a visit to the country, to be gone -three days. They did not take Tinkle with them -as they had to travel on the train.</p> - -<p>“But I guess he’ll be all right until we come -home,” said George as he went out to the stable -to bid his pet good-by.</p> - -<p>“I’ll be here to watch him,” said Patrick.</p> - -<p>Two days after the Farley family had gone -away Patrick, who slept in rooms over the -stable, had to go to the store for some salve for -one of the horses that had got a nail in his foot.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81"></a>[81]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="i_p081" style="width: 377px;"> - <img src="images/i_p081.jpg" width="377" height="600" alt="" title="" /> - <br /> - <div class="caption"><a href="#Page_79">It took a little time to make him stand upon his hind legs -without anything on which to rest his front feet.</a></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82"></a>[82]</span></p> - -<p>Patrick thought he would be gone only a few -minutes, so he left Tinkle outside in the stable -yard.</p> - -<p>“I guess he will be all right until I come back,” -said the coachman.</p> - -<p>But it took longer to put up the salve than he -had supposed, so he was nearly half an hour -away from the barn. And there was no one -in the house, for the cook and maid had also -gone away on visits when the family left.</p> - -<p>And in that half hour something happened. -Two men drove a big, empty moving van down -the street past the Farley house. In the side-yard -was an old-fashioned pump and, seeing it, -one of the men said:</p> - -<p>“Let’s stop off and get a drink. It’s a hot day -and I’m thirsty.”</p> - -<p>“I am too,” said the other man.</p> - -<p>They stopped the van in a side street near the -stable yard, and pumped some water for themselves. -Tinkle walked over near the fence and -looked at the men, for he was a bit lonesome.</p> - -<p>“That’s a fine pony,” said one of the men, -wiping off the drops of water from his mustache.</p> - -<p>“He sure is,” agreed the other. “Look at -him making a bow; would you!”</p> - -<p>For just then Tinkle took it into his head to -do one of his tricks. He had not done any in -two days because George was away.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83"></a>[83]</span></p> - -<p>“Say, he’s smart!” exclaimed the biggest man, -who had red hair.</p> - -<p>“He is that. Look at him jump!” for Tinkle -did his second trick then. He was showing off, -you see.</p> - -<p>The two men talked together in low voices. -They looked toward the house and saw that it -was closed. No one was about. Patrick was -down at the drugstore and no one was near the -stable.</p> - -<p>“We could easily put him in the moving van,” -said the red-haired man. “He isn’t heavy.”</p> - -<p>“But what would we do with him after we -took him?” asked the shorter of the two men.</p> - -<p>“Why, a trick pony like him is worth money. -We could sell him for a hundred dollars, maybe. -Let’s take him. No one will see us.”</p> - -<p>Of course it was not right for the men to plan -to take Tinkle away, but they did, just the same.</p> - -<p>“Come here, pony!” called one of the men, -and he whistled. Tinkle came closer, for -George had taught him to come at the sound of -a whistle to get a lump of sugar.</p> - -<p>But the men had no sugar for Tinkle. Instead -they opened the gate to the stable yard, -and led Tinkle out by his mane. The pony -went along willingly enough, for he was not -afraid of men. None of them had ever hurt -him, so he had no reason to be afraid.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84"></a>[84]</span></p> - -<p>“Lead him right out to the van,” said the red-haired -man, “and we’ll toss him in. No one -will see him in there.”</p> - -<p>Before Tinkle knew what was happening he -was led out of the yard, to the side street, and -suddenly the two men lifted him up and tossed -him right inside the big empty moving van, -which could easily have held two or three big -horses, to say nothing of several ponies as small -as Tinkle.</p> - -<p>Tinkle was not much bigger than a very big -dog, and the men, being strong (for they could -lift a piano) had no trouble in lifting the pony -from the ground. Into the van they tossed him, -and he fell down, but, as it happened, there was -a pile of soft bags there so he was not hurt.</p> - -<p>But he was much frightened when the men -banged shut the big end doors. Then Tinkle -felt himself being taken away. He was shut -up inside the dark wagon and could see nothing.</p> - -<p>Poor Tinkle!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85"></a>[85]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX<br /> -<small>TINKLE IN THE CIRCUS</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">“What does all this mean?” thought -Tinkle to himself as he got up off -the pile of bags in the moving van, -and tried to stand. But he found that the motion -of the big wagon, as it was rapidly driven -away, toppled him about so that it was easier -to lie down than to stay on his feet.</p> - -<p>So Tinkle stretched out on the bags and tried -to think what it all meant. His eyes were getting -used to the dark now, and he could see, -dimly, that he was in some place like his box stall. -Only it was not as nice, and Tinkle could not -smell any sweet hay or oats.</p> - -<p>“I wonder if they can be taking me where -George is?” thought Tinkle, for he had greatly -missed the little boy and his sister who were -accustomed to ride him or drive him about.</p> - -<p>On and on went the moving van with Tinkle -locked inside. The horses pulling the big -wagon of course did not know they were taking -a little pony away from his home. Even if they -had known there was nothing they could have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86"></a>[86]</span> -done. Poor Tinkle felt very sad and lonely. -It was the first time anything like this had ever -happened to him.</p> - -<p>Up on the seat the two men were talking.</p> - -<p>“Well, we got that trick pony all right,” said -the red-haired one.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but if the folks who own him find out -we have him they’ll have us arrested,” said the -short man.</p> - -<p>“Oh, they’ll never find out. No one saw us -take him, nobody but us knows he’s in this van -and we’ll soon be far enough away. We can -make money on this pony.”</p> - -<p>On and on the moving van rumbled, farther -and farther away, and pretty soon Tinkle, -locked inside, began to feel hungry. He got -up, intending to go about looking for something -to eat. But the van tossed and tilted about so -on the rough road that Tinkle was thrown -against the side and bruised.</p> - -<p>“I guess I had better stay lying down,” he -said. “But I am very thirsty!”</p> - -<p>It was hot, shut up inside the big wagon, -and Tinkle thought longingly of the trough of -cool drinking water in the stable yard and -wished he were back there.</p> - -<p>The men who had taken Tinkle away made -the horses drawing the van hurry along, so they -were soon out of the city where the Farleys<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a>[87]</span> -lived. They drove along a country road and, -just as night was coming on, they came to another -city where they had their stable, and where -they kept the van.</p> - -<p>“Well, let’s see how the pony stood the trip,” -said the red-haired man as he opened the big -end doors.</p> - -<p>“He seems to be all right,” replied the other. -He held up a lantern and looked inside. Tinkle -got up from his bed on the old bags. He -saw the open doors and he smelled hay and oats, -though the smell was not as good as that which -came from his stable at home.</p> - -<p>“Lift him out, and we’ll put him in one of -the stalls,” said the red-haired man.</p> - -<p>But Tinkle did not wait to be lifted out. He -knew how to jump, and, giving a leap, he was -quickly on the ground. Then, as he did not -like the place where he was, nor the men who -had taken him from his nice home, Tinkle tried -to run away.</p> - -<p>But the men were too quick for him. One of -them caught him by the mane and the other by -the nose, pinching so that it hurt Tinkle.</p> - -<p>“Look out! He’s a lively chap!” cried the -short man. “He wants to get away.”</p> - -<p>“Yes. We must put a halter on him and tie -him in the stall,” said the other.</p> - -<p>Tinkle again tried hard to get away, but could<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88"></a>[88]</span> -not. If he had been a big, strong horse he might -have broken loose from the men. But, as I -have said, he was not much bigger than a large -Newfoundland dog. The men easily held him -and led him into the barn.</p> - -<p>This stable was not at all like the nice place -in which Tinkle had lived when he was the pet -of George. The straw on the floor was not clean, -and when Tinkle was given a pail of water, after -he had been tied in the stall, the water was not -clean, either. Still Tinkle was so thirsty that he -drank it. Then he felt a little better. But oh! -how he did want his own, nice, clean box stall.</p> - -<p>For now he found himself in an ordinary -stall, such as the other horses had. The manger -was too high for him to eat from, but one of -the men brought a low box and put some hay -in it.</p> - -<p>“There! he can eat out of that I guess,” said -the man. “We’ll likely sell him in a couple of -days if we can find some one to buy him. He -ought to bring in some money if he can do -tricks.”</p> - -<p>Poor Tinkle did not understand or pay much -attention to this talk. He was too hungry, and, -though the hay was not so sweet as that he got -at home, still he munched it. Suddenly he -heard a voice speaking in a language he understood.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89"></a>[89]</span></p> - -<p>“Hello in there!” was called to him. “Are -you a new horse?”</p> - -<p>“I’m a pony,” was the answer Tinkle made. -“Who are you, if you please?”</p> - -<p>“Ha! You’re polite, anyhow, which is more -than I can say of some of the horses in this -stable,” went on the voice. “Where did you -come from, anyhow?”</p> - -<p>“I belong to a boy named George,” answered -Tinkle. “To George and his sister Mabel. I -don’t know where I am, nor why I was brought -here. I didn’t want to come. I’d rather be -back in my own home.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, ho!” exclaimed the voice, and by the -light of a lantern hanging in the stable Tinkle -could see that it was a horse in the next stall -that was speaking to him. “Oh, ho! If you -stay here long you’ll find there are lots of things -you don’t want to do. I don’t want to pull a -heavy moving van about the streets all day, but -I have to,” said the horse, and he gave something -like a groan.</p> - -<p>“Do all the horses here do that?” asked Tinkle, -who felt very sad.</p> - -<p>“Most of us,” answered his new friend. -“Some horses haul big wagons loaded with hay -and feed, and the men don’t give us any too -much to eat, either. Sometimes, when I’m -drawing a load of hay, I’m so hungry I could<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90"></a>[90]</span> -just eat nearly all that is piled on the wagon. -You won’t like it here a bit.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, what’s the use of making trouble?” asked -a horse in the stall on the other side of Tinkle. -“He’s here, and he’ll have to stay.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I guess he will,” agreed the first horse. -“But I don’t see what kind of work he can do. -He isn’t big enough to be hitched up with any -of us, and, if he was, he couldn’t pull the smallest -moving van the men have.”</p> - -<p>“I can pull a pony cart!” said Tinkle who -did not like the other horses to think he was of -no use in the world.</p> - -<p>“Ha! Pony cart!” exclaimed one horse -whose hide was covered with mud. “You’ll -find no pony carts around <em>here</em>! <em>Dump</em> carts, -more likely. I’ve been hauling dirt in dump -carts all day long, until I’m so tired I can hardly -stand. And there’s a big sore on my back, too!”</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry for that,” said Tinkle kindly. “If -Patrick were here he’d put something on it to -make it better.”</p> - -<p>“Who’s Patrick?” asked the dirt-cart horse. -“Is he one of us?”</p> - -<p>“Patrick is the coachman who taught me to -do tricks for George, the little boy,” answered -Tinkle, and he felt rather proud as he said this.</p> - -<p>“Tricks, is it?” laughed the horse who had -first spoken. “You’ll have no time for tricks<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91"></a>[91]</span> -here. You must belong in a circus. Tricks -indeed!”</p> - -<p>“I wish I could go to a circus!” said Tinkle -eagerly. “I’ve heard about Tum Tum, the -jolly elephant. He is in the circus.”</p> - -<p>“Well, eat your supper and be thankful for -what you have,” said the dump-cart horse. “I -hope they don’t work me so hard to-morrow. -If they do I’ll try to run away, though that isn’t -much use,” and the horse kept on with his supper -of hay.</p> - -<p>Tinkle was very sad and lonesome. It was -not at all nice in the stable where he was tied. -It was dirty, and did not smell good. The -horses around him, though kindly, were poor, -hard-working animals, and were not like the -sleek Prince and other horses in Mr. Farley’s -stable. The men who owned the work horses -seldom took the time to use the currycomb or -brush on them. If a horse fell down in the dirt, -as they often did from pulling too heavy loads, -the dirt stayed on until it dried and blew off.</p> - -<p>For several days Tinkle was kept tied in the -stable. The men could not use him on any of -their heavy wagons and there was no time for -him to do his tricks, and no pony cart for him -to ride children about in. Poor Tinkle felt very -bad, and many, many times he wished himself -back in his old home.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92"></a>[92]</span></p> - -<p>As best he could, in his stall, Tinkle practiced -the tricks he had learned from George and -Patrick. He bowed and he did a little jumping, -but not much, as his stall was too small. And -one day, when Tinkle was practicing his bowing -trick, the red-haired man suddenly happened to -come into the stable.</p> - -<p>“Oh, ho!” he cried. “I forgot about that -pony doing tricks! We must try to sell him and -get the money. I wonder who would buy him?”</p> - -<p>“I know,” said the other man, coming into the -stable just then.</p> - -<p>“Who would?” asked the red-haired man.</p> - -<p>“The circus people,” was the answer. “The -big circus which came to the city to-day. I -have been down on the circus lot just now with -a load of hay for the elephants. I saw some -little ponies there, and I asked one of the circus -men if they ever bought extra ones. He said -they did sometimes, and he said they needed a -new trick pony just now as one of theirs is sick.”</p> - -<p>“That may be just the chance we’re looking -for!” cried the red-haired man.</p> - -<p>“Good,” said the other. “We’ll take this -pony to the circus and sell him.”</p> - -<p>Through the city streets one of the men led -Tinkle and before long the pony heard music -playing. He looked up and saw the big white -tents and the gay fluttering flags.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93"></a>[93]</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, this must be the circus Dido, the dancing -bear, told me about,” Tinkle said to himself. -“I wonder if I shall meet Tum Tum, the jolly -elephant?”</p> - -<p>“Here’s the trick pony my partner was telling -you about,” announced the red-haired man to -a man who came out of a tent where many -ponies and horses were eating their dinners.</p> - -<p>“Can he do any tricks?” asked the circus man.</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ve seen him make bows and jump. -I don’t know what else he can do.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll soon find out,” stated the circus man. -“He looks like a good pony. I’ll buy him of -you.”</p> - -<p>So after some talk, the money was paid over -and then Tinkle belonged to the circus.</p> - -<p>“I wonder what will happen to me now,” -thought Tinkle, and very many strange things -were to happen. I am going to tell you about -them.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94"></a>[94]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X<br /> -<small>TINKLE AND TUM TUM</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">“Well, come along now, pony. I’ll -see how many tricks you know and -how many I can teach you.”</p> - -<p>It was the circus man who had bought Tinkle -who was speaking, but Tinkle was so taken up -with looking about him, at the strange sights -all round that he did not at first listen.</p> - -<p>“Come along!” called the man again, and then -Tinkle heard a whistle. This time he turned -around quickly. For a moment he thought his -dear little master George had come for him, but -he saw only the circus man, and other strange -men and animals all about.</p> - -<p>“It must have been the man who whistled to -me,” said Tinkle to himself. “I guess, though, -he wants me to come with him, as George used -to want me to go with him when he whistled. -I’ll go.”</p> - -<p>So Tinkle followed the man, which was just -what the man wanted. He led Tinkle along by -the rope made fast to his halter.</p> - -<p>“Well, you know something, to start with,”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95"></a>[95]</span> -said the circus man, smiling at Tinkle. The -pony, of course, did not know what a smile -meant, but he did know that the man spoke in -kind tones and not sharp and cross as had the -moving men, sometimes. Besides the circus -man talked <em>to</em> the pony, and the other men had -not.</p> - -<p>So Tinkle knew by the voice that the man -was kind, and he followed him to a little tent -where there were many other ponies. In a tent -next door were big horses, and they were all -either eating hay or oats, or lying down on the -straw, for it was not yet time for the circus to -begin.</p> - -<p>“Here is a new pony I have bought, Tom,” -said the first man to one who had charge of the -ponies. “He can do a few tricks and I am going -to teach him more. Look after him, and clean -him off. He doesn’t seem to have been well -taken care of.”</p> - -<p>“That’s right, Mr. Drake; he doesn’t,” answered -Tom. “I’ll take good care of him, -though.”</p> - -<p>Poor Tinkle’s hairy coat was in a sad state. -It was dirty and bits of hay and straw clung to -it. Also his mane and tail were tangled. Tinkle -had been kept very clean by Patrick and -George, but the moving men spent no time on -the pony they had stolen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96"></a>[96]</span></p> - -<p>“First to clean you up,” said Tom, talking -to himself, but also, in a way, speaking to Tinkle. -“Then we’ll see about your tricks. Mr. -Drake is a good pony teacher.”</p> - -<p>Though Tinkle could understand very little -of this talk, yet, somehow, he felt happier than -he had in a long while—in fact since he had -been taken away from George.</p> - -<p>With a brush, a currycomb, and a cloth Tom -cleaned Tinkle’s hairy coat until it began to -shine and glisten almost as it had when he lived -in the nice Farley stable.</p> - -<p>“That will do for a while,” said Tom. “Now -I’ll get you something to eat. Come along, -pony,” and he whistled just as George used to -do. Tinkle liked to hear a clear, cheerful -whistle.</p> - -<p>Tinkle was tied in the tent with the other -ponies. His stall was just a place between two -ropes, and his manger made of canvas, for the -tent, and everything in it, had to be moved from -place to place as the circus traveled, and wooden -stalls, such as are in barns, would never do. -In the manger were some hay and oats. Tinkle -began to eat hungrily. It was almost as good -as being home again.</p> - -<p>“Well, where in the world did you come -from?” asked a pony on Tinkle’s left side.</p> - -<p>“Yes, tell us about yourself,” added another<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97"></a>[97]</span> -on the right side. “You are a stranger. I never -saw you in the circus before.”</p> - -<p>“I just came to-day,” said Tinkle, after he had -swallowed some of the hay and oats. “I never -was with a circus before. Is it nice?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, it’s lots of fun,” said the pony on -the left, whose name was Tiny Tim. “It’s -jolly!”</p> - -<p>“We have great times doing tricks,” said the -pony on Tinkle’s right, and his name was Prancer. -“We do lots of tricks. Can you do any, -Tinkle?” for the new pony had told his name.</p> - -<p>“I can make a bow, jump over a rope and -walk on my hind legs.”</p> - -<p>“Those are all good tricks,” said Tiny Tim, -“but you will have to learn many more if you -are to stay with this circus.”</p> - -<p>“I guess the man they call Mr. Drake will -teach Tinkle tricks,” remarked Prancer. “He -taught me all I know. Why, would you believe,” -he went on, “when first I joined the circus -I couldn’t do a single thing!”</p> - -<p>“Can you do many tricks now?” asked Tinkle.</p> - -<p>“I should say he could!” cried Tiny Tim, with -a laughing whinny. “He is the best trick pony -in the circus!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, not the <em>best</em>,” protested Prancer modestly. -“I can do a <em>few</em> tricks, it is true, but—”</p> - -<p>“Now you let me tell!” interrupted Tiny Tim,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>[98]</span> -laughing. “You can jump over a barrel, stand -up on a platform on your hind legs and turn -around, you can pick up different colored flags, -count, add up numbers on a blackboard and take -letters from the post-office.</p> - -<p>“Well, yes, I can do those things,” said -Prancer.</p> - -<p>“My! What a lot of tricks!” cried Tinkle. -“I wonder if I shall ever be able to do even -half that many?”</p> - -<p>“Of course you will,” said Prancer kindly. -“You wait; Mr. Drake will teach you as he -taught me.”</p> - -<p>All this while many things were going on -about the circus grounds. The big tents had -been put up, the animal cages wheeled in, the -clowns were painting their faces in such funny -ways to make the boys and girls laugh, and the -big, golden wagons were being made ready for -the parade. A band was playing, the pretty -flags were blowing in the wind, and, altogether, -the circus was such a nice place that, for the -first time in a long while, Tinkle felt happy. -But when he thought of George and the nice -home he had been taken from he felt sad.</p> - -<p>“Still, this is much better than being kept in -the dirty stable,” thought the trick pony. -“Maybe I’ll see George some day.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99"></a>[99]</span></p> - -<p>Tom, the man who had cleaned and fed Tinkle, -came running into the ponies’ tent.</p> - -<p>“Come on now!” he cried. “Lively everybody!”</p> - -<p>All at once some other men began taking -down, off pegs in the tent poles, red blankets, -strings of bells, gaily colored plumes and harness.</p> - -<p>“What is going on?” asked Tinkle.</p> - -<p>“Oh, they are going to dress us up, and hitch -us to a little golden wagon to go in the parade,” -said Prancer.</p> - -<p>“Do you think I am to go?” asked Tinkle.</p> - -<p>“I think not this time,” answered Tiny Tim. -“You see you don’t know much about a circus -yet, and you might be frightened by the big -crowds and the noise. Then, too, you wouldn’t -know how to pull the golden chariot in which -a lady rides, dressed up like a fairy princess.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, that must be fine!” cried Tinkle.</p> - -<p>“It is. But you’ll be in it soon, so don’t -worry,” put in Prancer. “We’ll be back by -noon.”</p> - -<p>The men hitched up the ponies and led them -out of the tent to where the golden chariot stood.</p> - -<p>“This new pony is a very pretty one,” said -the man Tom to one of his helpers. “When he -is trained he’ll go in the parade too.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100"></a>[100]</span></p> - -<p>Tinkle felt a little sad when his pony friends -left him alone in the big tent, but still he had -plenty to eat and a clean place to stay, and he -knew they would come back soon. Tinkle saw -a boy coming toward him with a pail of water, -and, for a moment, the pony thought the boy -might be George. But he was not.</p> - -<p>“I wonder if I shall ever see George, Mabel -and nice Patrick again?” thought Tinkle. “I -would just love to be in my nice home once -more, even though I like the circus.”</p> - -<p>Suddenly Tinkle heard some one call:</p> - -<p>“Look out! Here come the elephants!” and -the ground seemed to rumble and shake as it -did when there was a heavy thunder storm.</p> - -<p>“Elephants? Elephants?” said Tinkle to -himself. “Where have I heard that word before?” -Then he remembered. “Oh, now I -know,” he said. “Dido, the dancing bear, told -me about them.”</p> - -<p>Tinkle looked from his tent. Near him, just -outside, were ten big elephants with gay silk -blankets on their backs. And, <a href="#i_p101">as Tinkle looked, -he saw one funny elephant slyly reach out his -trunk and pull the tail of the elephant in front -of him</a>. Then the funny elephant looked the -other way and seemed to be hunting on the -ground for a peanut.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a>[101]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="i_p101" style="width: 379px;"> - <img src="images/i_p101.jpg" width="379" height="600" alt="" title="" /> - <br /> - <div class="caption"><a href="#Page_100">As Tinkle looked he saw one funny elephant slyly reach -out his trunk and pull the tail of the elephant in front of -him.</a></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102"></a>[102]</span></p> - -<p>All at once it flashed into Tinkle’s head.</p> - -<p>“That must be Tum Tum the jolly elephant -Dido was telling me about. I’ll ask him.” So -he called, in animal talk: “How do you do, -Tum Tum?”</p> - -<p>“Ha! What’s that? Some one must know -me,” answered Tum Tum, for it was he. “Oh,” -he went on, “it’s a little pony. But, though I -know most of the ponies in this circus, I don’t -know you,” and Tum Tum walked a little closer -to Tinkle’s tent.</p> - -<p>“I heard about you from Dido, the dancing -bear,” said Tinkle, as he told his own name. -“I never thought I should meet you in this circus, -though.”</p> - -<p>“Why, how strange!” cried Tum Tum. -“Fancy meeting Dido! You must tell me all -about him. He and I are very good friends. -I was sorry when he went away from the circus. -Tell me about him when I come back. -I have to go in the parade now,” and Tum Tum, -with a jolly laugh and a wink of his eye at -Tinkle, marched slowly off with a man seated -on his big head.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103"></a>[103]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI<br /> -<small>TINKLE IS SAD</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">“Now, Tinkle, we can have a nice talk,” -said Tum Tum, a little later, when he -came back from the parade. “Tell -me about yourself, how you came to join the -circus and, most of all, I want to hear about my -old friend Dido.”</p> - -<p>So Tinkle told all he could remember; telling -first of the beautiful green meadow in which -he had once lived, and of George who had taught -him a few tricks, and of having been taken away -by two men in the big moving van.</p> - -<p>Then Tinkle told of having met Dido, of what -the dancing bear had said, and of what he had -told Tinkle about Tum Tum and Mappo, the -merry monkey.</p> - -<p>“Is Mappo in this circus?” asked Tinkle, as -he finished his little story.</p> - -<p>“Yes, and you’ll probably see him in a day -or so,” answered Tum Tum.</p> - -<p>That afternoon, when the performance was -over, Mr. Drake, the man who had bought Tinkle -from the man who had stolen him, came to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104"></a>[104]</span> -where the pony was lying down in the tent and -said:</p> - -<p>“Now we’ll see what you know and how much -I have to teach you. We will begin with some -easy tricks.”</p> - -<p>Then began a busy time for Tinkle, not only -that day but for a number of days. When the -circus was not traveling from one city to another -or when a performance was not being held -in the tents, Mr. Drake taught Tinkle tricks. -Tinkle, the first time it occurred, did not know -what was going to happen when, instead of -being allowed to go to sleep after the show, he -and the other ponies and animals were put in -the big railroad cars and the whole train was -hauled away by an engine.</p> - -<p>Tinkle did not know what was happening but -the other ponies told him it was all right, that -he would not be hurt, that they were only going -to another city to give a show there and that -this happened nearly every day or night. Tinkle -soon became used to travel, and rather liked -it.</p> - -<p>It would take too long to tell you how Tinkle -was taught to do many different tricks. It was -not so easy as at first he had thought it would -be, and many times he could not understand -what Mr. Drake wanted him to do.</p> - -<p>In time he learned how to go to a box, in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a>[105]</span> -which were a number of flags or handkerchiefs, -of different colors—red, white and blue.</p> - -<p>“Bring me a blue flag,” Mr. Drake would -say; and though at first Tinkle could not tell -one color from another, he soon learned to do -so. And he could tell, by hearing the word -“blue,” that it was not the <em>red</em> or the <em>white</em> flag -the trainer wanted, but the other. So, though -Tinkle had no word in his own language for -blue, he knew what that sound meant, and for -which flag it stood.</p> - -<p>“Now, Tinkle, bring me the <em>red</em> flag,” Mr. -Drake would say, when the blue one had been -dropped at his feet from the pony’s teeth. And -Tinkle would pick out the right color. In time -he could pick out of the box, and bring to the -trainer, any of the three colors, no matter which -one was asked for first. Tinkle hardly ever -made a mistake.</p> - -<p>“Well, now that you know red, white and -blue,” said Mr. Drake one day, “suppose we put -all three together, and this is what we get, Tinkle,” -and he held up the beautiful United States -flag, with its stripes of red and white and the -white stars on the blue field. “Now, Tinkle -when I ask you what flag you love best I want -you to bring me from the box this red, white -and blue one,” said the trainer, shaking the flag -in front of the pony.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106"></a>[106]</span></p> - -<p>It was several days before Tinkle learned to -do this trick, but, after a while, he could go to -the box, pick out the red, white and blue flags, -and then, at the last when the trainer asked the -question about loving the flag, Tinkle would trot -over to him carrying in his teeth the stars and -stripes. Then Mr. Drake petted him and gave -him two lumps of sugar, for he had done the -trick well.</p> - -<p>Nor were these all the tricks Tinkle learned. -Mr. Drake taught him how to add and subtract -simple numbers that the trainer wrote on a blackboard -with chalk. Tinkle could not <em>really</em> add -the numbers in his head, but when the trainer -wrote down say a 3 and a 4 and said: “Tell me -how much that is, Tinkle,” Tinkle would nod -his head seven times. He knew Mr. Drake -wanted him to nod seven times by the way the -trainer spoke and by the words he used. If the -sum were eight, on ten or some other number, -the trainer would ask the question in a different -way. So that Tinkle got to know numbers by -listening to the different ways his trainer spoke -the words to him, and it really seemed as though -the pony could do sums in arithmetic.</p> - -<p>Another trick Tinkle learned to do was to get -letters from the “post-office.” Mr. Drake had a -box made with partitions in it so that it looked -like part of a post-office. Into the little squares,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107"></a>[107]</span> -into which the big box was divided, the trainer -would put cards with the names of different -persons written on them—such as “John Jones,” -or “Peter Smith” or “Mary Black.”</p> - -<p>Each card was always put in the same place, -and Mr. Drake taught Tinkle to trot up to the -make-believe post-office. Then when asked: -“Is there a letter for John Jones,” the pony -would take out the right card. Tinkle learned -to do this by listening to the different <em>sounds</em> -of Mr. Drake’s voice just as happened when the -numbers were called. A pony knows the different -sounds of words, else how could he know -enough to stop when “whoa!” is called, or that -he should go when told to “gid-dap!”</p> - -<p>“Well, now you know so many tricks, I think -I’ll show you off before the people in the big -circus tent,” said Mr. Drake one day. And -that afternoon Tinkle was led out all alone. -A new white bridle was put on him, and around -him was put a red strap, on top of which, in the -middle of the pony’s back, was fastened a gay, -red, white and blue plume.</p> - -<p>Tinkle had looked in, but had never been in -the big circus tent before, where all the people -were seated, and where the band was playing -jolly tunes, with funnily painted clowns jumping -here and there making the boys and girls laugh. -And at first Tinkle was a bit frightened. But<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108"></a>[108]</span> -he looked over to where Tum Tum, the jolly -elephant, was turning a hand organ with his -trunk, and Tum Tum called in his pleasant -voice:</p> - -<p>“Steady there, Tinkle. Don’t be afraid. -You’ll do all right.”</p> - -<p>Then Tinkle felt better, and Mr. Drake patted -him and gave him a lump of sugar before -Tinkle had done even one trick.</p> - -<p>“We’ll begin with the easy one—make a bow,” -said the trainer.</p> - -<p>Tinkle bowed his prettiest, and some boys and -girls in the front row of seats clapped their -hands and laughed. This made Tinkle feel -glad, and he looked around, thinking he might -see George or Mabel. But neither was in the -tent.</p> - -<p>Then the pony went through all his tricks—he -added and subtracted numbers, he brought letters -from the post-office and then he picked out -the differently colored flags or handkerchiefs -that Mr. Drake called for.</p> - -<p>“Now, Tinkle,” said the trainer, after the pony -had done some jumping, “tell the people which -flag you love the best.”</p> - -<p>Tinkle trotted over to the box where a number -of flags of different countries had been put. -The United States banner was at the bottom, but -Tinkle knew that. <a href="#i_frontis">He nosed around among all </a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109"></a>[109]</span> -<a href="#i_frontis">the flags until he found the one he knew he -wanted, and with that in his teeth he trotted over -to Mr. Drake</a>, while the band played “The Star -Spangled Banner.”</p> - -<p>My! I wish you could have heard the people -clap then. And how the boys and girls shouted -with joy! They thought Tinkle was just the -finest pony they had ever seen. And Mr. Drake -patted him and gave him an extra large lump -of sugar for behaving so nicely when he first -did his tricks in public.</p> - -<p>“I told you he’d make a good trick pony,” -said Mr. Drake, as Tom led the little animal -back to the tent.</p> - -<p>“Yes, he’s a dandy!” replied the man. “I’ll -give him a good feed of oats for this.”</p> - -<p>And when Tinkle was back in his stall Prancer -and Tiny Tim talked to him and told him how -glad they were that he had done his tricks so -well. Tinkle felt happy, for a while.</p> - -<p>As the days went on, and the circus traveled -from place to place, Tinkle gave many exhibitions -of his smartness. He learned new tricks -and he could do the old ones much more easily -the oftener he practiced them, just as you can -with your music lesson.</p> - -<p>But though he liked it very much in the circus, -Tinkle was sad. His animal friends could<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110"></a>[110]</span> -tell that by looking at him, and the pony did -not eat as well as he had at first.</p> - -<p>“Come now, Tinkle, tell me what the matter -is,” came a voice behind him one day, and, -turning, the pony saw a funny monkey seated in -the straw on the ground.</p> - -<p>“I am Mappo, the merry chap Tum Tum and -Dido told you about,” went on the monkey. “I -haven’t had time to come to see you before. I’ve -been kept so busy in this circus.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, I remember Dido and Tum Tum -speaking about you,” said Tinkle. “Thank you -for coming to see me.”</p> - -<p>“Well, you don’t look very happy over it,” -said Mappo. “Come, what is the trouble? -Why are you sad? Look at me, I’m merry -enough for any one,” and Mappo turned a somersault -that made Tinkle laugh in his pony way.</p> - -<p>“Come! That’s better,” said Mappo. “Be -jolly like Tum Tum. What is the matter, -anyhow?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I feel sad when I think of the nice home -I was taken from,” said Tinkle. “I miss George -and Mabel, and I’d like to be with them again, -to let them ride on my back or pull them about -in the pony cart. That is why I am sad.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111"></a>[111]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII<br /> -<small>TINKLE IS HAPPY</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">Mappo, the merry monkey, picked up -a long, clean straw and put it in his -mouth, almost as a man might do with -a toothpick. Mappo sat chewing on the straw -and looking at Tinkle.</p> - -<p>“Tell me about that nice home where you -used to live, little pony,” said Mappo. “Maybe -it will make you feel better to talk about it.”</p> - -<p>“I think it will,” sighed Tinkle. “Oh, I just -<em>love</em> to talk about George and Mabel, they were -so good and kind to me! And so was Patrick, -the coachman.”</p> - -<p>So Tinkle told Mappo the story of his home -and of his having been taken away in the moving -van.</p> - -<p>“Those were queer adventures,” said Mappo. -“Almost as queer as those I had.”</p> - -<p>“Did you have adventures, too?” asked Tinkle.</p> - -<p>“Indeed I did,” answered the merry monkey, -and he told his story of having once lived in the -jungle-forest and of how he had been caught and -put in the circus.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112"></a>[112]</span></p> - -<p>“I had so many adventures,” said Mappo, -“that a man put them in a book, as he did those -of Tum Tum, Dido and some other animals. -Maybe you’ll be put in a book, too, Tinkle.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, nothing like that will ever happen to -<em>me</em>!” said the trick pony. But that only goes -to show we never can tell what is going to happen -in this world, doesn’t it? For Tinkle <em>is</em> -in this very book you are reading. And how -surprised he was when he heard about it and -saw his pictures!</p> - -<p>But now we will leave him talking to Mappo, -if you please, and go back to where George and -Mabel live. You will remember that Patrick, -the coachman, had gone to the store for salve -for one of the horses, and that George and -Mabel, with their father and mother, were visiting -in the country.</p> - -<p>When Patrick came back with the salve the -first thing he noticed was that Tinkle was not in -his stall.</p> - -<p>Patrick searched all around for Tinkle, but, -of course, could not find him. He asked the -people living in neighboring houses, but none -of them had seen Tinkle go away, because the -men shut him up inside the moving van, you -see. Some persons had seen the big wagon near -the stable but none had seen Tinkle put into it.</p> - -<p>Patrick even got a policeman and a fireman,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113"></a>[113]</span> -whom he knew, to look for Tinkle, but they -could not find him. And when, a day or so -later, Mr. and Mrs. Farley came back from the -country, with George and Mabel, the two children -cried when told that Tinkle was gone.</p> - -<p>“I think I must cheer them up a bit,” said Mr. -Farley to his wife one afternoon. “They are -thinking too much about Tinkle. I must take -their minds off him.”</p> - -<p>“How will you do it?” asked Mrs. Farley.</p> - -<p>“A circus is coming to town to-morrow,” said -her husband. “I’ll take the children to see that, -and when they watch the funny monkeys, the -queer clowns and the big elephants they will -forget about Tinkle.”</p> - -<p>So, when the big show with the white tents -came to the city where the Farleys lived, George -and Mabel were taken with their father to see -the wonderful sight.</p> - -<p>“Do you think there’ll be any ponies in the -circus?” asked George.</p> - -<p>“Why, yes, maybe,” answered Mr. Farley. -“Why?”</p> - -<p>“I’m not going to look at them,” said Mabel.</p> - -<p>“Nor I,” added George. “They’d make me -think too much of our Tinkle.”</p> - -<p>On the way to the circus with their father, -Mabel and George passed through a part of the -city where there were not many houses, and in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>[114]</span> -what few homes there were poor people lived.</p> - -<p>Many of them owned goats, some for the milk -they gave, for the milk of goats is almost as good -as that of cows.</p> - -<p>“Oh, see that big goat!” cried George as they -passed a small house, on the rocks behind which -a goat was jumping about. “Look how easy he -jumps!”</p> - -<p>“You may well say that!” exclaimed a pleasant-faced -Irish woman at the front gate. “Sure, -Lightfoot is the most illigint goat that ever was.”</p> - -<p>“Is Lightfoot his name?” asked Mr. Farley.</p> - -<p>“Sure an’ it is, for it fits him well. He’s that -light on his feet you’d never know he was jumpin’ -at all. Ah, he’s a fine goat.”</p> - -<p>“I had a fine pony once,” said George, “but -somebody took him away.”</p> - -<p>“That’s too bad,” said the Irish woman, whose -name was Mrs. Malony. “Sure but I’d like to -see any one, not a friend, try to take Lightfoot -away. He’d butt ’em with his horns.”</p> - -<p>“Isn’t it too bad Tinkle didn’t have horns?” -sighed Mabel, as she walked on.</p> - -<p>“A pony with horns would be a funny one,” -said her brother.</p> - -<p>I wish I had time to tell you all that George -and Mabel did at the circus and the many -things they saw, from Tum Tum the jolly elephant -to Mappo the merry monkey. They<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>[115]</span> -laughed at the clowns, ate popcorn and peanuts, -giving some to the elephants, feeding a whole -bag of peanuts to Tum Tum, though they did -not know his name. But they were sure he was -nice because he looked at them in such a funny, -jolly way.</p> - -<p>“Oh, look at the ponies!” cried Mabel, as the -little horses trotted into the middle ring. There -was Prancer and Tiny Tim, as well as others, -and they were going to do their tricks.</p> - -<p>“They are nice ponies,” said George, glancing -at them, even though he and Mabel had said they -would not look. “But not one of them is as nice -as Tinkle.”</p> - -<p>The ponies went through their tricks, doing -their very best, and then, when the time came, -Tinkle himself was led in to do his tricks alone, -as of late he always did. Mabel and George -were looking the other way just then, watching -a man turn a somersault over the backs of Tum -Tum and some other elephants, and at first they -did not see Tinkle. But as George turned in -time to watch the trick pony take the United -States flag out of the box, and bring it to Mr. -Drake the little boy cried:</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mabel! See that pony!”</p> - -<p>“Which one?” asked the little girl.</p> - -<p>“There,” and George pointed. “Doesn’t he -look just like Tinkle? He has four white feet<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>[116]</span> -and a white star on his head. Mabel, see, isn’t -he just like our pony? Why—why!” cried -George, standing up in his seat, and very -much excited, “it <em>is</em> Tinkle! Oh, Mabel, it <em>is</em> -Tinkle!”</p> - -<p>“I—I believe it is,” said the little girl slowly.</p> - -<p>Persons sitting near the children looked at -them, and then at the pony. Mr. Farley, too, -was staring at the little trick horse.</p> - -<p>“I wonder if it could be Tinkle?” he asked -himself.</p> - -<p>George was sure he was right—so sure that he -jumped from his seat and rushed into the ring -where the pony had just finished his tricks.</p> - -<p>“Tinkle! Tinkle!” said George. “It <em>is</em> you, -isn’t it? And you know me, don’t you?”</p> - -<p>Tinkle knew his little master at once though -it was several months since he had seen him. -The pony trotted across the ring, and while the -trainer, the circus folk, and the people in their -seats looked on in wonder, <a href="#i_p117">George threw his -arms around the pony’s neck</a>.</p> - -<p>Tinkle whinnied. That was the only way he -could talk our language, but it meant he was -glad to see George again—very glad indeed.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Tinkle, Tinkle!” cried the happy little -boy. “I’ve found you again! I’ve found our -Tinkle!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>[117]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="i_p117" style="width: 376px;"> - <img src="images/i_p117.jpg" width="376" height="600" alt="" title="" /> - <br /> - <div class="caption"><a href="#Page_116">George threw his arms around the pony’s neck.</a></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118"></a>[118]</span></p> - -<p>“What does this mean?” asked Mr. Drake. -“Do you say this is your pony? I bought him -for the circus.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Tinkle is my pony,” cried George. -“Mine and Mabel’s. I taught him some tricks, -too. Make a bow, Tinkle.” And Tinkle did.</p> - -<p>“Well, this is very strange,” said the trainer. -“He minds you and does tricks for you. But I -bought him of a man, and—”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps I can explain,” said Mr. Farley, -coming into the ring with Mabel, who not only -put her arms around Tinkle’s neck but kissed -him on his white star. And Tinkle rubbed his -soft nose against her soft cheek. “This looks -very much like my little boy’s pony, that was -stolen from our stable some time ago,” went on -Mr. Farley, and he told of having bought Tinkle -at the stock farm.</p> - -<p>“Well, I guess you’re right, and it is your -little boy’s pet,” said the circus man, after -Tinkle’s story had been told by Mr. Farley. “I -didn’t like the looks of the man from whom I -bought the pony, but I never thought he had -stolen Tinkle.”</p> - -<p>There was no doubt that Tinkle belonged to -George. You could tell that by watching how -glad the pony was to see his master again. The -people in the audience thought it was all part of -the circus, and laughed as Tinkle followed -George about the ring.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>[119]</span></p> - -<p>The circus man was sorry to lose Tinkle but, -as he said he had no right to him, he agreed to -let George and Mabel have the pony back.</p> - -<p>“And may we take him now?” asked George -eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I guess so,” said Mr. Drake. “There is -an old pony cart in one of the tents. You can -drive Tinkle home in that and send the cart back -by your coachman. But you may keep Tinkle.”</p> - -<p>“And we’ll never let him go away again,” said -George.</p> - -<p>“Never!” cried his sister. “We’ll keep him -forever.”</p> - -<p>A man took Tinkle away to harness him to the -pony cart. Tinkle had a chance to say good-by -to Mappo and Tum Tum.</p> - -<p>“So you are going back to your old home,” -observed the monkey. “I am glad, for you never -would have been happy here in the circus, -though it just suits me.”</p> - -<p>“And me, also,” added Tum Tum, the jolly -elephant. “If you see Dido, the dancing bear,” -he went on, “tell him to hurry back. We are -lonesome without him.”</p> - -<p>“I will!” cried Tinkle, who was so excited he -could hardly wait to be harnessed. He was very -eager to be with George and Mabel again.</p> - -<p>The circus men patted the pony, for they liked -him. Tinkle called good-by to Tum Tum,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>[120]</span> -Mappo and all his animal friends, and then, the -pony cart being ready, he trotted home with Mr. -Farley, George and Mabel.</p> - -<p>“There is that funny goat, Lightfoot, again,” -said George as they passed the home of Mrs. -Malony.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Mabel. “I like him. I wonder -if we will ever see him again?”</p> - -<p>And they did, several times; and you may -read about it in the book to come after this, -which will be called: “Lightfoot, the Leaping -Goat: His Many Adventures.”</p> - -<p>You may well imagine how surprised Mrs. -Farley and Patrick were to see the children come -driving home with the long-lost Tinkle.</p> - -<p>“We found him in the circus!” cried George.</p> - -<p>“And he can do ever so many more tricks,” -said Mabel, laughing.</p> - -<p>“You ought to see him find the flag!” added -her brother, and they began to make Tinkle do -some of his new circus tricks. So while the -children are doing that, and telling their mother -how they found Tinkle again, this will be a good -chance for us to say good-by to the trick pony.</p> - - -<p class="p4 noic">THE END</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="noic adgroup">GOOD STORIES FOR CHILDREN</p> - -<p class="noic">(From four to nine years old)</p> - -<p class="noic adtitle">THE KNEETIME ANIMAL STORIES</p> - -<p class="noic adauthor">By RICHARD BARNUM</p> - - -<div class="figleft" id="i_bm01" style="width: 110px;"> - <img src="images/i_bm01.jpg" width="110" height="153" - alt="Kneetime Animal Stories" title="Kneetime Animal Stories" /> -</div> - -<p>In all nursery literature animals have -played a conspicuous part; and the reason -is obvious, for nothing entertains a child -more than the antics of an animal. These -stories abound in amusing incidents such -as children adore, and the characters are -so full of life, so appealing to a child’s -imagination, that none will be satisfied until -they have met all of their favorites—Squinty, -Slicko, Mappo, and the rest.</p> - -<div class="adpage"> -<ol> -<li class="ident">Squinty, the Comical Pig.</li> -<li class="ident">Slicko, the Jumping Squirrel.</li> -<li class="ident">Mappo, the Merry Monkey.</li> -<li class="ident">Tum Tum, the Jolly Elephant.</li> -<li class="ident">Don, a Runaway Dog.</li> -<li class="ident">Dido, the Dancing Bear.</li> -<li class="ident">Blackie, a Lost Cat.</li> -<li class="ident">Flop Ear, the Funny Rabbit.</li> -<li class="ident">Tinkle, the Trick Pony.</li> -<li>Lightfoot, the Leaping Goat.</li> -<li>Chunky, the Happy Hippo.</li> -<li>Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox.</li> -<li>Nero, the Circus Lion.</li> -<li>Tamba, the Tame Tiger.</li> -<li>Toto, the Rustling Beaver.</li> -<li>Shaggo, the Mighty Buffalo.</li> -<li>Winkie, the Wily Woodchuck.</li> -</ol> -</div> - -<p class="noic"><i>Cloth, Large 12mo., Illustrated.</i></p> - -<hr class="r20" /> - -<p class="noic"><span class="adtitle">BARSE & HOPKINS</span><br /> -<span class="noic adauthor">Publishers</span><br /> -Newark, N. J. New York, N. Y.</p> - - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="tnote"> -<p class="noi tntitle">Transcriber’s Notes:</p> - -<p class="smfont">Printer’s, punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently - corrected.</p> - -<p class="smfont">Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.</p> - -<p class="smfont">Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.</p> -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Tinkle, the Trick Pony, by Richard Barnum - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TINKLE, THE TRICK PONY *** - -***** This file should be named 61847-h.htm or 61847-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/1/8/4/61847/ - -Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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