peace.
Well, she said, we shall see. Of course, I do not want to have words
with a young thing like you. I said no more.
In the afternoon, when she went out, Merrylegs told me all about it.
The thing is this, said Merrylegs. Ginger has a bad habit of biting
and snapping; that is why they call her Ginger, and when she was in the
loose box she used to snap very much. One day she bit James in the arm
and made it bleed, and so Miss Flora and Miss Jessie, who are very fond
of me, were afraid to come into the stable. They used to bring me nice
things to eat, an apple or a carrot, or a piece of bread, but after
Ginger stood in that box they dared not come, and I missed them very
much. I hope they will now come again, if you do not bite or snap.
I told him I never bit anything but grass, hay, and corn, and could not
think what pleasure Ginger found it.
Well, I don't think she does find pleasure, says Merrylegs; it is
just a bad habit; she says no one was ever kind to her, and why should
she not bite? Of course, it is a very bad habit; but I am sure, if all
she says be true, she must have been very ill-used before she came here.
John does all he can to please her, and James does all he can, and our
master never uses a whip if a horse acts right; so I think she might be
good-tempered here. You see, he said, with a wise look, I am twelve
years old; I know a great deal, and I can tell you there is not a better
place for a horse all round the country than this. John is the best
groom that ever was; he has been here fourteen years; and you never saw
such a kind boy as James is; so that it is all Ginger's own fault that
she did not stay in that box.
05 A Fair Start
The name of the coachman was John Manly; he had a wife and one little
child, and they lived in the coachman's cottage, very near the stables.
13