IN THE PASTURE 7 



and men they called Indians, with small eyes and dark 

 rusty faces, rode on them for exercise. Beside these 

 there were some others, called Burros, with longish 

 ears, who did not seem to know hoAv to either trot or 

 run, and some of the small horses kept jerking and 

 humping up their backs, so that the men could not 

 ride them. 



"Who told you all these names?" asked Tom, 

 suspiciously. 



" There was an old horse who did not work in the 

 circus, but only helped draw wagons, who stayed by 

 the fence and talked to me. He had seen a great deal 

 of life in his day, and what do you think he said about 

 those strange horses ? That they were not born and 

 raised on nice farms like you and me ; that they came 

 from the west country where they run wild until they 

 are old enough to work, and they live in great flocks as 

 the Crows do hereabouts. Every horse has a mark on 

 his side, put there by the man who owns him. When 

 they are young they have fine sport, but when it is 

 time for them to work, men ride after them on swift 

 horses and catch them by throwing a rope loop over 

 their heads, and sometimes this hurts them very much, 

 and they are also sorry to leave their friends. 



" Out in the west country where these horses lived, 

 the plains are full of fourfoots, — not Horse and Cow 

 People, — but real wild fourfoots, strange as any of the 

 Elephants or Lions. There are more kinds of them 

 than you could ever dream of, even if you ate a whole 

 bushel of oats for supper. 



" The Horse said that they belong to older American 

 families than any of us farm animals, and that once 



