house--old Spot, as you call him. Surely Farmer Green wouldn't
mind if I rode _him_ away, for he's nothing but a nuisance."

"Why don't you ask Farmer Green?" Jolly Robin suggested.

But Major Monkey shook his head.

"No!" he said. "No! I don't want to do that yet. Before I speak to
Farmer Green I prefer to make sure that old dog Spot is _easy to ride
on_."

Jolly Robin looked puzzled. His mouth fell open. And for a few moments
he stared at Major Monkey without saying a word.

[Illustration: The Man Began to Sing a Merry Song]

When he finally spoke, it was to ask Major Monkey how he was going to
find out what he wanted to know about old dog Spot.

"There's only one way," said Major Monkey. "There's only one way; and
that's _to ride him and see_."

Jolly Robin thought what a bold fellow Major Monkey was. He entirely
forgot the Major's flight from the picnic grove. Riding a dog was such
a feat as Jolly Robin himself would never, never attempt. And he was
sure that if Major Monkey really undertook it there could be no doubt
of his bravery.

"How do you know"--Jolly asked the Major timidly--"how do you know that
old dog Spot will let you ride him?"

"Don't you worry about that!" Major Monkey cried lightly, as he
swaggered along a limb of the apple tree where they were talking.
"Leave that to me."

And Jolly Robin thought what a stout heart beat beneath Major Monkey's
red coat, and how fine it was to be one of his friends.

"I should like to see you when you first ride old Spot," said Jolly
Robin.

"Delighted, I'm sure!" Major Monkey cried.

"And I hope you've no objection to my bringing my wife along, too."

Major Monkey was not so sure that he would care to have Mrs. Robin for
an onlooker.

"Women are likely to be timid," he remarked. "They sometimes scream at
the wrong time. And if your wife happened to cry out just as I was
about to drop on old Spot's back, he might jump. And that would spoil
everything."

Jolly Robin decided that Major Monkey knew best.

"We'll keep this affair a secret," he whispered.

The Major nodded.

"And now"--Jolly Robin asked him--"now where and when are you going to
ride old Spot?"

Shutting his eyes tightly, Major Monkey wrinkled his low forehead
until Jolly Robin began to fear that he was in great pain.

"Are you ill?" Jolly asked him.

"No!" said the Major. "I was only thinking. And it seems to me that
the other end of the orchard, toward the farmhouse, would