“Certainly, any time you like,” agreed Mr. Hernstadt cordially.
“Bring him over in about two weeks,” said Timothy. “By then I’ll know my way around and be able to find the time. He needs reshoeing.”
“Thanks,” replied Jim. “I’ve been wondering where I was going to get him shod.”
“I’ll float his teeth too,” said Timothy. “I was looking at them one day and they could stand it.”
“What does ‘floating his teeth’ mean?” Jim inquired.
“Those back teeth are called grinders,” explained Timothy. “They grind up the grain and after a while they get sharp edges and points. Ticktock’s aren’t so bad, as apparently he hasn’t had too much grain. Anyhow, unless you file away those sharp edges, the horse can’t chew the way he should. When the teeth get really bad a horse gets out of condition and sometimes has colic. Filing down the teeth is called floating.”
“You weren’t wrong when you said he knew horses,” said Mr. Hernstadt to Jim.
As soon as Jim reached home, he told his sister about the happy ending to Timothy’s story. She was very pleased that the trainer was no longer a fugitive from justice, but her pleasure seemed overshadowed by her worry about Timothy’s broken heart.
“Don’t be silly,” said Jim, who couldn’t understand her concern. “Why should he worry about a woman when he’s got twenty-three horses?”
Later that evening Jim sat contentedly in the living room reading a book about the West in the days of the pioneers. He was deeply engrossed in a running battle between a wagon train and the Indians when the clock struck nine.