“Never! Never!” Ebenezer replied in a shocked tone.
Just then a step told them that Farmer Green had entered the barn.
“Just watch out, if he comes near me!” Mistah Mule warned Ebenezer.
III
FARMER GREEN’S TRICK
Mistah Mule had told the old horse, Ebenezer, to watch out, if Farmer Green came near him. And Ebenezer knew what his new neighbor meant by that. He intended to kick Farmer Green again.
Ebenezer soon saw that Farmer Green had a plan in his head. He called to the hired man. And then they both came up with a long, stout pole, one end of which they thrust into a front corner of Mistah Mule’s stall. Holding the other end of the pole, which stuck out a safe distance behind Mistah Mule’s heels, the hired man pushed the pole far over, crowding Mistah Mule firmly against a side of his stall.
“There!” said Farmer Green. “He can’t kick now.” And then Farmer Green walked boldly in beside Mistah Mule and untied his halter-strap. He backed that black rascal out of the stall, turned him around on the barn floor, and then backed him in again.
Mistah Mule now stood facing to the rear. He looked somewhat puzzled when Farmer Green fastened the halter-strap around the upright post on his left. He looked more puzzled when Farmer Green snapped another strap to his halter, wrapping the end of this one securely about a post on his right.
“Now,” Farmer Green remarked with a chuckle, “we can walk past this fellow’s stall without having to dodge his heels.”
Meanwhile Farmer Green’s son Johnnie had come in to watch what happened to Mistah Mule. “Won’t he bite?” he asked his father.