The Pony Rider Boys in the Rockies | Page 9

take care of you, first. After I have made enough so that

you can get along, then I shall have a horse. But not until then."
"Perhaps you may have one sooner than you know," breathed the
mother, veiling her eyes with her hands, that he might not read what
was plainly written there.
Tad shot a keen glance at her, then resumed his supper in silence.
The subject was not again referred to between them, and on Monday
afternoon Tad Butler was again at the grocery store, prepared for work
should there be any for him.
Mr. Langdon, the proprietor, was talking with one of the men from his
farm just outside the village.
"You say the old mare is unfit for further service, Jim?"
"Yes."
"What do you advise doing with her?"
"Shoot her."
"Very well, take the old mare out in the swamp and put her out of her
misery," directed Mr. Langdon after he had thought a moment.
"I beg pardon, Mr. Langdon," interrupted Tad Butler, who had been an
interested listener to the interview.
"Yes, Tad; what is it?"
"Is it old Jinny that you are speaking of, if I may ask?"
"It is," smiled the grocer, good-naturedly.
"What's the trouble with her?"
"Trouble?" sniffed the farm-hand." Jinny's got the heaves that bad she
blows like a blacksmith's bellows. Why, sometimes she even coughs

the oats out of her manger before she's had the chance to eat them. And
that ain't all that ails her, either. I----"
"Why do you ask, Tad?" said Grocer Langdon.
"What will you take for Jinny?" inquired the boy, the color flaming to
his face as a bold plan suddenly occurred to him.
"Why, what could you do with an old, broken-down animal like that?"
"I don't know. But I should like to make a bargain with you----"
"Of course if you want her you may have her, provided you get her off
the premises at once," answered the grocer." She'll die on our hands
presently, anyhow."
"No; I don't want the mare that way. But, I'll tell you what I will do, Mr.
Langdon."
"Yes?"
"I will clean out your store every morning for a month in payment for
the mare. Yes, I will make it two months. If two months is not long
enough, I will work for you longer."
"Oh, very well. The mare's not worth it. However, if you wish to have
it that way I am sure I ought to be satisfied," laughed the grocer.
"Then, will you write on a piece of paper that the mare is sold to me,
and that I am to clean out the store every morning in payment for her?"
asked Tad.
"Certainly, if you wish it. I wish you luck," smiled Mr. Langdon,
handing the agreement over the counter after he had prepared it.
With the precious document in his pocket, Tad Butler sped homeward
as fast as his legs could carry him. Mrs. Butler saw him coming and
wondered what the boy's haste might mean.

"I've got a horse! I've got a horse!" shouted Tad, vaulting the fence
lightly and bounding up the steps. "I surely have a horse at last,
mother."
Grasping his mother about the waist with both arms, Tad whirled her
dizzily, the full length of the porch and back, finally dropping her into a
rocking chair with a merry laugh.
"Mercy!" gasped Mrs. Butler. "You have shaken all the breath out of
me. What does this whirlwind arrival mean?"
"It means that I have a horse at last, mother. To be sure, it is not much
of a horse; but it's a horse just the same. And it's all mine, too."
Mrs. Butler gazed up at him in perplexity. Tad sank down at her feet
and explained the terms on which he had procured Jinny from Mr.
Langdon.
"Well, now that you have her, what do you mean to do with her?"
asked Mrs. Butler, a quizzical smile on her face.
"With your leave, I shall bring her home. Will you let me turn Jinny in
the clover patch there, mother? There'll be enough grass there to keep
her all summer, and as soon as she is able to work I can get odd jobs
enough with her to pay for the oats that I shall need to keep her up on,"
went on the boy speaking rapidly.
"Very well, Tad; the place is as much yours as it is mine," agreed Mrs.
Butler, indulgently.
"And I have been thinking of something else, too--something for you.
But I shall not tell you about that now. I am going to keep it as a
surprise for you when I get it ready," announced the boy mysteriously.
"If you have nothing for me to do just now, I