"Poor Peter!" she exclaimed. "That's the second horse that fell in that ditch this week. And it's an awful job to get them out. I'll just wait to see if they need our Billy, and if not, we can drive on home, for Martha will be most crazy waiting with dinner."
Uncle Daniel, Mr. Bobbsey, and the boys hurried to where Peter Burns stood at the brink of one of those ditches that look like mud and turn out to be water.
"And that horse is a boarder too!" Peter told them. "Last night we said he looked awful sad, but we didn't think he would commit suicide."
"Got plenty of blankets?" Uncle Daniel asked, pulling his coat off and preparing to help his neighbor, as all good people do in the country.
"Four of them, and these planks. But I couldn't get a man around. Lucky you happened by," Peter Burns answered.
All this time the horse in the ditch moaned as if in pain, but Peter said it was only because he couldn't get on his feet. Harry, being light in weight, slipped a halter over the poor beast's head.
"I could get a strap around him!" Harry suggested, moving out cautiously on the plank.
"All right, my lad, go ahead," Peter told him, passing the big strap over to Bert, who in turn passed it on to Harry.
It was no easy matter to get the strap in place, but with much tugging and splashing of mud Harry succeeded. Then the ropes were attached and everybody pulled vigorously.
"Get up, Ginger! Get up, Ginger!" Peter called lustily, but Ginger only seemed to flop in deeper, through his efforts to raise himself.