dea had never entered the red cow's
head. And the moment she heard it she no longer wanted to be
fashionable. She was so alarmed that she lashed out with both hind feet
in a most unladylike manner. And she plunged and roared and made such a
fuss that Farmer Green and the hired man left her in disgust.

"She hasn't the brains of a hen," Farmer Green declared.

"Shall we try the big white cow?" the hired man asked him.

"No! She's a numskull too," said Farmer Green. He was feeling somewhat
cross, for the little red cow had given him a smart kick. "Let's take
the old Muley. She knows something, even if she is a jumper."

Well, what could the Muley Cow do? She had declared to all her friends
that she would _not_ be milked by any new-fangled milking machine. But
when Farmer Green spoke so pleasantly about her she hadn't the heart to
disappoint him. So she stood quite still for a few minutes. And soon
she had the honor of being the first cow in the herd to be milked the
fashionable new way.

The little red cow was frightfully jealous of her. And she called the
Muley Cow "an old humbug."

"You said you wouldn't let them do it," the little red cow spluttered.
"And here you are, with the honor of being first!"

"And you--" the Muley Cow retorted--"you said you were glad the milking
machine had come. But you certainly didn't act pleased when they offered
to use it on you.... Speaking of humbugs, I should say you were one
yourself."

For once the little red cow had nothing to say. The herd agreed that it
was the _first_ dispute in which she hadn't had the final word. And to
their surprise, ever afterward the little red cow was meek and mild. She
even let Farmer Green milk her with the milking machine. And there was
only one thing that ever vexed her. She never could bear to hear the
word _humbug_.

Somehow the whole herd became gentler. At last Farmer Green announced
proudly, right in their hearing, that they were giving more milk.

"It's the milking machine," he told the hired man. "The cows like it."

But the Muley Cow knew better than that. She was too polite to say as
much to Farmer Green. She wouldn't dream of disputing what he said,
though she knew well enough that he had not guessed the secret. Being
only a man, he had not noticed how fashionable the cows had become. And
since no cow can be a fine, fashionable dame if she is rude, noisy and
quarrelsome, they simply had to be on their best behavior all the time.