One day John Manly and I rode out to deliver a message for the squire.
On our way home, we saw a teenage boy riding a stout black pony.
John and I watched as the boy rode the pony toward a gate near the road.
On either side of the gate was a tall hedge.
"Is he crazy?" John murmured.
"That gate is much too high for a pony that size to jump."
The pony seemed to be thinking the same thing.
When he reached the gate, he veered off to the right and stopped.
"Hey!" the boy shouted.
He spun the pony around and tried again.
This time he thumped the pony's sides with his heels and gave him several cracks with his whip.
But once again the pony refused the jump. Instead he darted off to the left.
"You rotten little thing!" the boy cried.
He still didn't notice John and me watching.
The boy wheeled the pony around and aimed him at the gate once again, kicking as hard as he could and lashing him with the whip.
The pony's ears were flat back against his head.
This time the pony turned neither left nor right.
He just stopped short, threw his head down, and bucked several times.
The boy tried to hang on. But the last buck sent him flying.
He went right over the pony's shoulder, landing headfirst in the thorny hedge.
"Ow!" he yelled, thrashing around. "Stupid thorns!"
Meanwhile the pony spun around and galloped off, his reins dangling.
John burst out laughing. "That boy got what he deserved," he said.
The boy heard him. "Help!" he called.
"Come help me out of these thorns so I can catch that rotten pony and teach him a lesson!"
"I think you're the one who needs the lesson, young man," John said.
"And those thorns seem to be giving you one.
Maybe next time you'll know better than to try to make your pony jump over such a high gate.
Or to use the whip so cruelly."
We rode off, with the boy's cries following us part of the way.
When we reached the next intersection, John turned off to the right.
"I think we'd better stop by Farmer Bushby's house, Beauty," he said.
"That young man might be a liar as well as a bad rider.
It might be better for that pony if we're there to tell his side of the story."
We rode up to a farmhouse.
A man was standing in the road looking back and forth with a worried expression.
His wife was nearby, and she looked frightened too.
The black pony was grazing in the yard.
He was still wearing his saddle, but he looked much more content without his rider.
"Hello, Mr. Manly," the farmer said when he saw us.
"Have you seen my boy anywhere? His pony just came home without him."
"As a matter of fact, I have," John replied.
"And after seeing the way he rides, his pony is better off without him."
"What do you mean?" the farmer asked.
"Well, sir, I saw your son whipping and kicking that good-looking pony to make him jump," John said.
"But the pony knew better than to try to make it over a gate that was far too high for him.
He finally kicked up his heels and tipped the young man into a thorn hedge.
Your son wanted me to help him out.
But I could tell that the boy had no injuries aside from the scratches the thorns were giving him, and so I decided to leave him where he was.
I love horses, and it bothers me to see them treated badly."
The farmer's wife was crying by now. "Oh, poor Bill!" she sobbed.
"We should go find him and help him."
"I think I'd better go by myself, my dear," the farmer said with a sigh.
"This is not the first time Bill has mistreated that pony, or the second either.
It's time to put a stop to it and teach him a lesson." He nodded toward John.
"Thank you for letting us know about this, Mr. Manly."
"You're welcome," John said. "Good luck with your boy."
When we got home, James was there to remove my saddle and groom me.
While they worked, John told him what had happened.
Soon the two of them were both chuckling.
"I know the boy you mean," James said.
"And you were right about his needing that lesson.
He's always been careless about animals.
Maybe this will teach him to treat them better."
"I hope so," John replied. "Only a coward is cruel to helpless animals.
At least this coward is still only a boy.
If his father can get him to change his ways, there may be hope for him yet."