“Yes, yes, yes,” he answered, “and I’ve brought a young man, Phil. Ulmer’s son; goin to trade him ‘Dick.’”
“What?” said she, coming out to where we were. “Now, Dan’l, you are not going to do anything of the kind.”
“Yes, I be,” he said.
“You shan’t, I won’t have my horse sold; you know he is the only one I can drive, and he is so kind and gentle, and the only good horse you have; you shan’t sell him.” And then she sat down on the cart-tongue and cried as if her heart would break, and I began to think I was going to really get a splendid horse at a bargain.
All through the dinner she sobbed, and when she would pass me bread or anything, it was with a heartbroken sigh, and I began to want that horse.
Finally dinner finished, he took me to the barn. There were two horses together standing on the barn-floor eating corn-husk. They both looked as if they never had eaten anything else. One was a bay, and the other a grey; they were so poor that you could mistake either for a barrel with half the staves fallen in.
“Thar, sir, be two fine critters; you can have either; this grey one is Dick, the one the old woman is so sot on, but he’s getting too frisky for her ter handle, he’s the best dispositioned animal yer ever saw; yer do anything with him, he’s always ready. Get him with ’tother on a load at the bottom of a big hill and he’s thar every time; yer see, he’s a leetle sprung in one knee thar, he done that by pulling; it don’t hurt him a bit ter drive, and go! Why, do you know he’s trotted in two minutes? You notice, one eye’s bit off color! Blue? Wall sir, that was strained a leetle by watching over his blinder to see that no other hoss should pass or get near him when he were druve on the race track twelve years ago, but it don’t hurt him now.”
“You praise this horse,” I remarked, “but don’t say a word about the other.”
“Oh, he don’t need it,” said the old man dryly.
I was so anxious to get a horse, I concluded to take Dick. I thought, he must be the best on Martha-Ann’s account, and really there didn’t seem much choice.