, to give him a mouthful of grass in the door-yard. Alice
likes to lead him about. When he stepped on her gown, and she held it up
to him all torn, and scolded him, she said: 'O Ned! aren't you ashamed
of yourself? how could you be so clumsy and awkward?' and she said he
dropped his head and looked so sorry and ashamed, as if he wanted to
say: 'Oh, I beg pardon! I didn't mean to do it,' that she really pitied
him, and answered as if he had spoken: 'Well, don't worry, Ned; it's of
no consequence,' Ned is such a pet. Papa got him in Canada, on purpose
for mamma and Alice to drive; and it was so funny when he first
came--he didn't understand a word of English, not even whoa. He belonged
to a Frenchman way up the country, and had never been in a large town,
and acted so queer--like a green countryman, you know, turning his head
and staring at all the sights. And it's lovely to see him play in the
snow. He was brought up in the midst of it, you know. When there's a
snow-storm he's wild to be out of the stable, and the deeper the drifts,
the better pleased he is. He plunges in and rolls over and over, and
rears and dances. Oh, it is too funny to see him! But I beg pardon, Miss
Ruth! I didn't mean to talk so long about Ned."

"We are all glad to hear about him," she said, and Susie added that it
was very interesting.

"My Uncle John owned a horse," said Roy Tyler, "that opened a gate and
a barn-door to get to the oat-bin, and he shut the barn-door after him
too. I guess you can't any of you tell how he did that!"

"He jumped the gate, and shoved his nose in the crack of the door and
pried it open," said Sammy.

"No, he didn't. That wouldn't be _opening_ the gate, would it?" Roy
retorted. "And how did he shut it after him?"

"I think you had better tell us, Roy," said Miss Ruth.

"Well, he reached over the fence, and lifted the latch with his teeth,
that's how he opened the gate; and he shut it by backing up against it
till it latched itself. Then he pulled out the wooden pin of the
barn-door, and it swung open by its own weight--see?"

"Well, pa had a horse that slipped his halter and shoved up the cover
of the oat-bin, when he got hungry in the night and wanted a lunch,"
said Sammy; "and I read about a horse the other day which turned the
water-tap when he wanted a drink, and pulled the stopper out of the pipe
over the oat-bin, just as he 'd seen the coachman do, so the oats would
come down, and"--

"But really now,"