The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1922-07-15
Then he would rub the pony's
shaggy little head and give him a car

Then he would rub the pony's
shaggy little head and give him car
rot. ~
Tony liked the rubbing almost as
much as he liked the carrot, and prob
ably if he could have spoken he would
have offered very gladly to haul Joe
and his basket. 1t must have been
tiresome to stand idle SO much of the
time. In fact, that is probably the
very reason that the next time Tony
had a chance to get out on the road
he overdid things
When little Alice, the youngest of
the Thornton children, came home
from long visit in another part OF
the state the first thing she did was
to hitch Tony to the cart and 60 for
drive. She tried to keep the pony
at steady, sensible pace, but he
was very frisky. He SHE'D first at
one thing, then at another Soon his
brisk trot changed to lope, and then,
when Alice pulled hard on the reins,
he broke into reckless gallop. The
little girl, thoroughly frightened, be-
gan to scream.
Some children who were playing in
the road scattered just in time to
avoid flying hoofs. One or two of the
older boys ran after the cart and call
! ed, "Whoa!" at the top of their voices,
but that only made Tony run the
faster.
1t is hard to tell what would have
happened if another voice had not
sounded close by, just then, clear and
strong.
| "Beets and. carrots" called the
voice. Carrots and beets! Carrots
and beets for sale!" .-.....
Tony's ears shot forward and his
words sounded again he slowed down
to trot
His ears twitched as if he were say.
ing to himself, AHA! That's some
thing like! Here comes that carrot
boy" He turned the next corner at
a very respectable gait and bumped
right into Joe, who was crossing the
street.
The sudden stop almost threw Alice
from her seat, but she was thankful
to stop at ALL AS Tony whinnied at
Joe and began to nose the basket, she
lclimbed hastily over into the back of
the cart and held out the reins. 8
please drive me home" she beg
ged. "Tony seems to like you, and
maybe you can make him behave bet
ter"
So Joe crowded in with his basket
on the front seat. How fine it felt to
gather up the reins and make ready to
go! He did not know much about
driving, for most of his life he had
out any trouble and with one, flap of
the reins sent Tony trotting swiftly
back up the road.
You're the vegetable boy. aren't
you?" Alice asked politely from the
back of the cart. Il should think you'd
have u pony cart to go round in"
| Joe laughed. Il wish l had" he an
swered.
You may use this one if you want
to-" Alice said Unexpectedly. Its
mine, now; the others have outgrownl
it. And I'm not going to drive Tony
again, anyway, till he has had some of
the friskiness taken out of him. Win
you keep him for a while?"
Joe nearly fell out of the cart,
basket and all. Would he take Tony?
Il guess l will" he said ioyously.
"My, but it will be great to have him!"
Alice's mother felt the same way
about the matter that Alice felt, and
the upshot was that Joe drove the cart
home that very day.
AS he put Tony away in the shed
that night he pulled something out of
his pocket and held it under the ponys
nose.
Here, you old carrot eater" he
said, take this. You're worth more
than q carrot a day to me now"
| Youths Companion.