“Give him a lump of sugar!” said Patrick. “Then he’ll know he is to get a lump when he makes another bow.”
The coachman loosed his hold of the rope and Tinkle quickly scrambled to his feet. He was not in the least hurt, but he was a little puzzled.
“I wonder what they are trying to do to me?” he asked himself. But he was glad when he found George had another lump of sugar for him. “This part of it is all right, anyhow,” thought the pony.
Once again he heard Patrick call:
“Make a bow, Tinkle. Make a bow!” Again came that tug on the rope which pulled Tinkle’s leg from under him, so that he had to bend down and bow.
“That’s the way to do it!” cried Patrick. “More sugar for the pony, Master George!”
“Now I begin to understand!” said Tinkle to himself. “This is just like jumping over the stick—only different. Ah, I have it! These are the tricks Dido was telling me about. Now I know what they are doing it for. I am to be a trick pony! And maybe I’ll be in the circus with Tum Tum and Mappo.”
But you will have to wait a little while to find out if that part came true.
“Now we’ll try it again,” said the coachman as Tinkle got up and stood on the soft straw. “Make another bow, Tinkle!” he called.
The pony heard the word “bow,” he felt the gentle pull on the rope that was tied to his leg. This time he did not wait for his leg to be pulled from beneath him, but he bowed of his own accord, and then George gave him the sugar.