"Was that what you wanted him to do?" asked Mrs. Brown.
"Yes, that was the trick I taught him in his own stable. I was afraid perhaps he might have forgotten it here, but I see he hasn't."
"Aren't you going to give him some oats now?" asked Bunny.
"Well, I thought maybe you or Sue would like to have him do the trick over again before he had any oats. Usually I didn't let him have any until after I had made him do the trick three or four times. He has the habit of doing it like that. So you children take a turn. Here is more sugar for him."
Bunny took a lump, and put it in the measure. Then he hid it under the bushel basket, and, surely enough, Toby went over to it again, took the measure out from under and dropped it into the oat bin. Then Bunny gave him the second lump of sugar.
Toby did the trick for Sue, as well as for Mrs. Brown, and then the children's mother said:
"Well, now I am sure Toby has earned his oats."
"Yes, now we'll give him some," agreed Mr. Tallman, and the little horse seemed to like them very much.
"Did he do this trick in the circus?" asked Bunny.
"No, I taught him this after that time," answered Mr. Tallman. "In the circus, though, Toby used to stand on his hind legs with a lot of other ponies in a ring, and a monkey used to ride around on his back. We haven't any monkey now, so we can't do that trick."