“When we got back to the gate we had come through, Charlie pulled Prince’s mane and he turned out into the grass again.
“The men were still talking, and the one who had called to us patted Prince’s head and asked us if we had enjoyed our ride. Then, because it looked so silly, we told him how we happened to be on Prince at a place like that and how Father was going to sell him because he balked and wouldn’t work and how sorry we were and afraid some one would buy Prince from the horse dealer because he was so handsome and then beat him when he found he balked.
“The old gentleman seemed greatly interested and asked us Father’s name and a great many questions about Prince. We told him how he would do anything for us and was as safe as safe could be. Then we hitched Prince to the fence and said good-by to him and went to dinner. My dress was all wrinkled and my hair was mussed and my face burned from being in the sun, and Mother was not at all pleased that Charlie and I had made ourselves so conspicuous.
“But we had lots of fun that afternoon watching the races and eating peanuts and drinking pink lemonade. There was the balloon ascension, and Father took us into some of the shows and bought us ice cream, molded into cakes and wrapped in paper, which was called ‘hokie-pokie.’
“We had balloons and peanuts and canes to take home with us, and when we got in the surrey to go home Prince was gone and no one mentioned him. But when we were well out of town Father said, ‘Well, children, you may rest easy about Prince. He has a good home where he will be well treated, and it is largely due to Charlie and Sarah.’ And then he told us all about it.
“The man at the gate with the wide felt hat and high-topped boots was the horse dealer, and the old man with him was hunting a horse that would be safe for his little granddaughter, who had been sick and was not strong, to ride and drive. When he saw Charlie and me on Prince and heard what we said, he knew that Prince was the very horse he wanted.
“So he had bought him from Father and paid a hundred dollars, when Father had only expected to get fifty dollars at the most. He didn’t care a bit because Prince balked, for no one would use him but the little girl and he would be quite as much a pet as when we owned him.
“‘And that extra fifty dollars shall go to Charlie and Sarah,’ said Father, ‘for their very own.’
“The next time Father went to Clayville, sure enough, he put twenty-five dollars in the bank for Charlie and twenty-five dollars for me, and he gave us each a brand new bank book with our names on the backs. We never saw Prince again, but the man who bought him took care of him and was good to him until Prince died a few years later.
“Now what shall I tell you tomorrow night? Oh, I know—a Hallowe’en story!”