THE ANIMAL TREE 15 



field without any saddles ? " said Nat, lookiiag fearlessly 

 up at the big horses, -whose mouths barely touched the 

 top of his head. 



" You can try, if you like," laughed the Doctor, " but 

 I'm afraid it will be too hard travelling for Dodo. No, 

 you will risk a bumping ? Very well, then, but tell 

 Rod to bring blankets and surcingles." 



In a few minutes Rod came, strapped a folded 

 blanket on each horse, and gave Nat Jerrj-'s halter, but 

 insisted upon keeping hold of Tom. 



" Now, if I only had something to shoot with, we 

 could play circus. Hoo-oo-ooh ! " cried Nat, trying to 

 imitate an Indian cry, at which sound Jerry galloped 

 very quietly down the pasture, switching his tail. But 

 to Nat it seemed as if he was seated on an earthquake, 

 and he clutched Jerry's mane, whereupon the horse 

 gave a little kick of surprise and cantered heavily back 

 to the spring. 



" I think T-o-m is falling to pieces," chattered Dodo, 

 as Rod ran him round the pasture. "He — is — so — 

 fat, too, my legs can't bend down ; — I — guess I'll 

 stop, please," and Rod swung her down to the wall 

 beside her uncle. 



" A circus isn't as easy as it looks," said Nat, wiping 

 his face, and Rap laughed heartily and pounded his 

 crutch on the fence. 



" Farm horses are not saddle horses," said Comet to 

 himself. 



" I'm all mixed up about animals," said Dodo in a 

 few minutes when she had caught her breath. " Our 

 farm animals aren't real Americans, yet Daisy is a 

 kind of cousin of the wild Buffalo, because she has no 



