Over the prairie rode Janet and Ted. Their ponies went slowly, for
the children had been told not to ride fast when they were alone.
But, after a while, Ted got tired of this slow motion.
"Let's have a race, Jan!" he called. "I can beat you from here to
that hill," and he pointed to one not far away.
"Mother said we couldn't ride fast," objected the little girl.
"Well, we won't ride _very_ fast," agreed Ted. "Come on, just a little
run."
Janet, too, wanted to go a bit faster, and so, when her pony was in
a line with Ted's, she called sharply:
"Gid-dap, Star Face!"
"Gid-dap, Clipclap!" cried Teddy.
The two ponies started to run.
"Oh, I'm going to beat! I'm going to beat!" Janet cried, for she saw
that Star Face was getting ahead of Clipclap.
"No you're not!" shouted Teddy, and he touched his heel to the
pony's flank. Clipclap gave a jump forward, and then something
happened.
Teddy took a flying leap, and right over Clipclap's head he sailed,
coming down on his hands and knees some distance off. Clipclap fell
down and rolled over in the grass while Janet kept on toward the hill
that marked the end of the race.
The little girl reached this place first, not being able to stop her
pony when she saw what had happened to Teddy. But as soon as she
could turn around she rode back to him and asked anxiously:
"Are you hurt, Ted?"
"No--no.
Pages:
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128