Tinkle used often to listen to the stories Dapple Gray and the other horses told as they gathered in the shade of the clump of trees in the green meadow after their dinner or their breakfast of sweet, green grass.
For Tinkle lived on what is called a stock farm, not far from a big city. The farm was owned by a person whom the horses called “The Man.” Really his name was John Carter and he raised horses and ponies to sell to other men.
Mr. Carter liked his horses very much, and was very kind to them, and he loved his little ponies, of whom Tinkle was one. The ponies and the horses lived in a warm barn in the Winter, but in the Summer they were “turned out to grass,” and could walk or run all over the big meadow, and do almost as they pleased.
Sometimes men would come to the stock farm to buy horses. They might want one to pull a coal wagon or a wagon from which vegetables were sold. Some of the horses, like Dapple, were used to haul fire engines, while others pulled fine carriages in which rode men and women. The ponies were sold, too, but they were only put to such easy work as carrying boys and girls around on their backs, or pulling little carriages in the parks.
“But nothing like that ever happened to me,” said Tinkle as he began slowly to walk away. “So I’m going to run off, as far as I can go, and maybe I’ll have some adventures like Dapple Gray.”
Tinkle had eaten plenty of the sweet, green grass, so he was no longer hungry. He did not need to take anything to eat with him when he ran away. In the first place ponies have no pockets in which to carry anything, though, of course, if they are hitched to a wagon, that would hold corn, hay or oats which ponies like to eat.
But, as for that, all round in the meadow where Tinkle lived was grass to eat. He had only to stop and nibble some when he was hungry, so he had no need to carry anything with him.
“There is more here than I could eat all Summer,” thought the little pony. “And when I get tired of running away I can just rest myself, eat grass and then run on some more.”
Though Tinkle called it “running away” he was really walking. Just as some children do when they start to run away, they don’t run at all, but walk.
One reason why Tinkle did not care to run was that he did not want his father, mother or the other ponies or the horses to see him. They might not notice him if he just walked, but if he started to run some one would be sure to ask: