Beautiful Joe [108]
had taught him to come whenever he
whistled for him. Though the pony was only a scrub of a creature, he had a
gentle disposition, and every other animal on the farm liked him. A gander, in
particular, had such an admiration for him that he followed him wherever he
went, and if he lost him for an instant, he would mount one of the knolls on the
farm and stretch out his neck looking for him. When he caught sight of him, he
gabbled with delight, and running to him, waddled up and down beside him. Every
little while the pony put his nose down, and seemed to be having a conversation
with the goose. If the farmer whistled the pony and he started to run to him,
the gander, knowing he could not keep up, would seize the pony's tail in his
beak, and flapping his wings, would get along as fast as the pony did. And the
pony never kicked him. The Italian saw that this pony would be a good one to
train for the stage, so he offered the farmer a large price for him, and took
him away.
"Oh, Joe, I forgot to say, that by this time all the animals had been sent off
the stage except the pony and the gander, and they stood looking at the Italian
while he talked. I never saw anything as human in dumb animals as that pony's
face. He looked as if he understood every word that his master was saying. After
this story was over, the Italian made another bow, and then told the pony to
bow. He nodded his head at the people, and they all laughed. Then the Italian
asked him to favor us with a waltz, and the pony got up on his hind legs and
danced. You should have seen that gander skirmishing around, so as to be near
the pony and yet keep out of the way of his heels. We fellows just roared, and
we would have kept him dancing all the afternoon if the Italian hadn't begged
'ze young gentlemen not to make ze noise, but let ze pony do ze rest of his
tricks.' Pony number two came on the stage, and it was too queer for anything to
see the things the two of them did. They helped the Italian on with his coat,
they pulled off his rubbers, they took his coat away and brought him a chair,
and dragged a table up to it. They brought him letters and papers, and rang
bells, and rolled barrels, and swung the Italian in a big swing, and jumped a
rope, and walked up and down steps they just went around that stage as handy
with their teeth as two boys would be with their hands, and they seemed to
understand every word their master said to them.
"The best trick of all was telling the time and doing questions in arithmetic.
The Italian pulled his watch out of his pocket and showed it to the first pony,
whose name was Diamond, and said, 'What time is it?' The pony looked at it, then
scratched four times with his forefoot on the platform. The Italian said, 'Zat's
good four o'clock. But it's a few minutes after four how many?' The pony
scratched again five times. The Italian showed his watch to the audience, and
said that it was just five minutes past four. Then he asked the pony how old he
was. He scratched four times. That meant four years. He asked him how many days
in a week there were, how many months in a year; and he gave him some questions
in addition and subtraction, and the pony answered them all correctly. Of
course, the Italian was giving him some sign; but, though we watched him
closely, we couldn't make out what it was. At last, he told the pony that he had
been very good, and had done his lessons well; if it would rest him, he might be
naughty a little while. All of a sudden a wicked look came into the creature's
eyes. He turned around, and kicked up his heels at his master, he pushed over
the table and chairs, and knocked down a blackboard where he had been rubbing
out figures with a sponge held in his mouth. The Italian pretended to be cross,
and said, 'Come, come; this won't do,' and he called the other pony to him, and
told him to take that troublesome fellow off the stage. The second one nosed
Diamond, and pushed him about, finally bit him by the ear, and
whistled for him. Though the pony was only a scrub of a creature, he had a
gentle disposition, and every other animal on the farm liked him. A gander, in
particular, had such an admiration for him that he followed him wherever he
went, and if he lost him for an instant, he would mount one of the knolls on the
farm and stretch out his neck looking for him. When he caught sight of him, he
gabbled with delight, and running to him, waddled up and down beside him. Every
little while the pony put his nose down, and seemed to be having a conversation
with the goose. If the farmer whistled the pony and he started to run to him,
the gander, knowing he could not keep up, would seize the pony's tail in his
beak, and flapping his wings, would get along as fast as the pony did. And the
pony never kicked him. The Italian saw that this pony would be a good one to
train for the stage, so he offered the farmer a large price for him, and took
him away.
"Oh, Joe, I forgot to say, that by this time all the animals had been sent off
the stage except the pony and the gander, and they stood looking at the Italian
while he talked. I never saw anything as human in dumb animals as that pony's
face. He looked as if he understood every word that his master was saying. After
this story was over, the Italian made another bow, and then told the pony to
bow. He nodded his head at the people, and they all laughed. Then the Italian
asked him to favor us with a waltz, and the pony got up on his hind legs and
danced. You should have seen that gander skirmishing around, so as to be near
the pony and yet keep out of the way of his heels. We fellows just roared, and
we would have kept him dancing all the afternoon if the Italian hadn't begged
'ze young gentlemen not to make ze noise, but let ze pony do ze rest of his
tricks.' Pony number two came on the stage, and it was too queer for anything to
see the things the two of them did. They helped the Italian on with his coat,
they pulled off his rubbers, they took his coat away and brought him a chair,
and dragged a table up to it. They brought him letters and papers, and rang
bells, and rolled barrels, and swung the Italian in a big swing, and jumped a
rope, and walked up and down steps they just went around that stage as handy
with their teeth as two boys would be with their hands, and they seemed to
understand every word their master said to them.
"The best trick of all was telling the time and doing questions in arithmetic.
The Italian pulled his watch out of his pocket and showed it to the first pony,
whose name was Diamond, and said, 'What time is it?' The pony looked at it, then
scratched four times with his forefoot on the platform. The Italian said, 'Zat's
good four o'clock. But it's a few minutes after four how many?' The pony
scratched again five times. The Italian showed his watch to the audience, and
said that it was just five minutes past four. Then he asked the pony how old he
was. He scratched four times. That meant four years. He asked him how many days
in a week there were, how many months in a year; and he gave him some questions
in addition and subtraction, and the pony answered them all correctly. Of
course, the Italian was giving him some sign; but, though we watched him
closely, we couldn't make out what it was. At last, he told the pony that he had
been very good, and had done his lessons well; if it would rest him, he might be
naughty a little while. All of a sudden a wicked look came into the creature's
eyes. He turned around, and kicked up his heels at his master, he pushed over
the table and chairs, and knocked down a blackboard where he had been rubbing
out figures with a sponge held in his mouth. The Italian pretended to be cross,
and said, 'Come, come; this won't do,' and he called the other pony to him, and
told him to take that troublesome fellow off the stage. The second one nosed
Diamond, and pushed him about, finally bit him by the ear, and