Whether Toby knew all that Mr. Tallman said to him, or whether the pony had learned to go for the measure because he knew there was a lump of sugar in it, I can't exactly say. Perhaps it was a little of both. At any rate, he walked over to the bushel basket that covered the wooden measure.
With a quick motion of his head Toby knocked the basket to one side. Then he reached down and took out the lump of sugar, which he chewed.
"Oh, he did it! He did it!" cried Sue, clapping her hands.
"But this isn't all," said Mr. Tallman. "This is only half the trick. Watch and see if he does the rest."
The children and Mrs. Brown waited until Toby had chewed down the lump of sugar. And then, with a little whinny, which seemed as if he tried to talk, Toby picked the two-quart measure up in his mouth.
Over to the oat bin he walked with it, and Bunny and Sue could hardly keep still, they were so excited.
Would Toby open the box, as Mr. Tallman wanted him to?
And that is just what the Shetland pony did. Dropping the wooden measure at one side of the wooden box where his oats were kept, Toby lifted the cover with his nose. Then he picked up the measure again, and dropped it in the box, on top of the oats that filled it nearly to the brim.
"Ha! that's the way to do it!" cried Mr. Tallman. "Now you have done the trick, Toby, and you shall have another lump of sugar!"
And he gave the pony a large one.