Ben Hall did a strange thing. All at once he jumped up in the air, and before Bunny or Sue knew what he was doing the strange boy was sitting on the back of Prince, the other horse. He had jumped up as easily as a bouncing, rubber ball.
"Now then, come over here, and I'll lift you up in front of me!" called Ben to Bunny, and soon the little fellow was sitting on the back of Prince, while Ben guided him to the drinking trough.
"Say, that's a good way to get up on a horse's back, Ben!" called Bunker Blue, who had seen what Ben had done. "Where did you learn that trick of jumping up?"
"Oh, I—I just sort of learned it—that's all. It's easy when you practise it."
"Well, I'm going to practise then," said Bunker. "I'd like to learn to jump on a horse's back the way you did."
When the horses had had their water Bunker lifted Sue down from the back of Major.
"But I want to ride back to the barn," the little girl said.
"And in a minute so you shall," promised Bunker. "Only, just now, I want to see if I can jump up the way Ben did."
Bunker tried it, but he nearly fell.
"I can't do it," he said. "It looks easy, but it's hard. You must have had to practise a good while, Ben."