The man ran toward the barn for ropes, led by Mr. Carter. Though Dapple and Tinkle’s mother could not understand what the men said, they knew that help would soon be carried to Tinkle and the others held fast in the mud. They trotted along after the men, who were talking among themselves.
Of course horses and ponies understand some man-talk, else how would they know they are to stop when a man says “Whoa!” or to start when they hear “Gid-dap!” or to back when told to do so. But it takes a little time for a horse to get to know these words, just as it does your dog to know you want him to run toward you when you say: “Come here!” or go back when you point toward home, and tell him to go there.
“Things will be all right now,” said Dapple Gray to Tinkle’s mother, using horse-talk, of course. “The Man will soon have all the horses and ponies out of the bog.”
“Oh, I’m so glad you thought of a way to tell him,” said Tinkle’s mother.
Taking some ropes and planks out of the barn, Mr. Carter and his men ran on toward the green meadow. It did not take them long to reach the broken fence.
“Here’s where the rascals got through to the swamp!” cried Mr. Carter. “I must make the fence much stronger.”
Of course he did not know that Tinkle had made all the trouble by first jumping over the fence. The others had only broken it down to go to help the boy-pony.
“Come on!” cried the stockman. “That bog is a bad place. If they sink down too far we’ll never be able to get them up again. Come on, I say!”
On ran the men with the planks and the ropes. They soon came to the place where the horses and ponies were mired, as it is called.