"Do you see any little girl that you would like to make friends with?" Alexis went over to Martha. "Don't be afraid, my dear," said the horse trainer. "He is very gentle." The home stuck out his head toward Martha and pinched her sleeve between his lips. The girl was not in the least taken aback and stood stroking the home's head as her father came up. He was talking with Mr. Hazlitt, Serena's father.
"Hello," said Mr. Capp. "He's pretty friendly, ain't he? You'd like to own him, eh?" he said in reply to a faint remark made by Martha. "What do you want for a hoss like that?" Mr. Capp inquired of the trainer.
"Well, homes don't bring very much now—bicycles are running them out and feed's high—I'll let him go dirt cheap, though I do hate to part with him. Say a hundred dollars."
"Oh, sho!" replied Mr. Capp, "I can git four good hosses for that."
"But there are few that know so many tricks, and he's a first-class saddle-home—safe, gentle—any lady can ride him—and he can go fast. Wait a minute."
The man threw a saddle on Alexis's back, tightened the cinch, grasped the bridle rein, and, leaping upon his back, made a flying gallop over to the mill and back again, scattering the sawdust with which the road was covered.
"He's a good goer," observed Mr. Hazlitt, "and he seems to be sound. He's wuth the money. I'd buy him myself if I needed another hoss."
Mr. Capp examined Alexis all over, with particular attention to his teeth. "He's 'bout seven year old, I should say," was his remark on finishing the dental inspection.
"Only five," said the trainer. "Ain't you, my pretty?"
The horse pawed five times on the ground. "And you love the ladies?" (A bow.) "And like bad boys?" (A decided "No.") "Ain't he cute?" remarked Mr. Capp. "Wal, I'll give you seventy-five for him."
The trainer looked injured.
"One hundred or nothing," he said quietly. "And he knows lots of other tricks. He can stand on his hind legs, twist a faucet and turn on the water, open gates, and lots of things."
