Chapter Two The Reception
After tying Ticktock to the orchard fence, Jim stepped back and regardedhis property with admiration. Ownership had caused the mustang to take onnew beauty in the eyes of the boy. There were so many things to be donethat Jim was uncertain where to start. He had to feed the pony, comb outhis mane and tail, give him a good grooming and do something about thatsaddle sore. After much thought, Jim finally decided the most importantand most enjoyable thing to do was to win his horse's confidence. He ranhappily into the house and down the cellar stairs. There were still a fewapples left, he knew from frequent trips to the barrel.
"Here you are, Ticktock," he said, returning with an apple. "It's awinesap and no worms in it either."
Cutting the apple in half, he carefully removed the core and offeredone-half in his outstretched hand. Ticktock moved forward cautiously.After a few moments of doubtful sniffing, he picked the apple delicatelyfrom the boy's outstretched palm. He ate it with obvious relish.
"Liked it, didn't you?" asked Jim, getting more pleasure than if he hadeaten the apple himself.
Ticktock didn't reply. He stuck his head forward and sniffed at Jim'sother hand.
"Say, you're pretty smart," said Jim admiringly, as he gave the pony theremainder of the apple. "You know there's two halves to an apple."
By this time Jim felt confident enough to begin stroking the mustang'shead. Next he gently scratched the horse's ears. He knew dogs liked theirears scratched, so why not horses? Ticktock didn't seem to mind, for hestood patiently. Jim had progressed as far as the neck when there was aninterruption. Colonel Flesher drove in the yard in his little truck. Thefleshy stock buyer climbed out of his car and walked toward the boy.
"Good afternoon, Colonel," said Jim, glad to see the visitor. Now herewas a man who would appreciate the finer points of a beautiful horse."Come see my mustang."
Selling a mustang]
"Mustang, eh?" asked Colonel Flesher jovially.
"Yep. A real Western. Isn't he a beauty?"
Colonel Flesher looked at the little horse doubtfully. He pursed his lipssearching for the right thing to say. The boy's enthusiasm left no doubtas to what sort of answer was expected.
"Well, he's a bit thin yet to be called a beauty," he said, evadingnicely.
"He may be a little thin," admitted Jim unwillingly, "but I'll fix thatup in no time. He's a Texas ranch horse."
"That so?" asked the colonel, glad to be off the subject of the mustang'sappearance. "Where'd you get him?"
"Traded a gold watch for him. I made a fine deal. He's worth a lot morethan a gold watch, isn't he?"
"Well, that all depends on the watch," answered the stock buyercautiously. "There are all sorts of watches you know, some cheap, somevaluable."
"I've never seen a watch that was worth half as much as this horse," saidJim hotly, realizing that Colonel Flesher wasn't too enthusiastic aboutTicktock.
"Hm-m-m, well," hedged the colonel, trying to be truthful and still nothurt the boy's feelings.
"You wait," said Jim confidently. "Wait until I get him spruced up a bit;then you'll see. He's probably the smartest horse in the whole state."
"That could be true enough," said the stock buyer, glad to find somethingon which they could agree. "I'd like to spend more time looking at him,son; but I'm in a big hurry. Can you tell me where the calf is that Ibought from your father?"
Jim led the calf out of the barn and over to the truck. The two carried asmall stock chute to the back of the truck. By dint of much pushing,pulling and coaxing, the calf was finally loaded.
"Here's the fifteen dollars for the calf," said the colonel. "Thanks alot for helping me."
Jim returned to his horse. Colonel Flesher's lack of approval didn'tbother him in the least. He shrugged his shoulders. After all the stockbuyer bought cows largely, and probably wasn't able to see Ticktock'swonderful qualities. He went out to the barn for a curry comb and brush.Now he hoped his family wouldn't be back for hours. He had visions of themustang looking like a show horse by the time they returned.
Currying Ticktock turned out to be a much bigger job than Jim hadanticipated. After the first ten minutes he sadly conceded that it wouldbe a matter of weeks instead of hours before he could have the pony'scoat sleek and glistening. He tried unsuccessfully to comb out a fewstrands of the matted mane and gave up. Instead he started to work on ashoulder--that looked easier. After twenty minutes of hard work, he wasresting his tired arms when the family drove in the yard. Jim ranexcitedly over to the car, jumping on the running board as the carstopped.
Since the driver's seat was on the side toward the orchard, Mr. Meadowssaw the mustang first.
"Where did that nag come from?" he inquired.
"Nag!" said Jim, astounded. "Why that's a real Texas cow pony with abrand and everything."
"All right," said Carl Meadows, grinning at his son. "Where did that realTexas cow pony come from?"
"I traded for him," said Jim proudly.
"You did what?"
"Traded for him."
"Traded what?" asked Jim's father.
"My gold watch. I got the horse, a halter and a bridle, all for mywatch."
Mr. Meadows said nothing, but the grin vanished. Very slowly and grimlyhe got out of the car and walked toward the horse. Mrs. Meadows and Jeanfollowed, all gathering in front of the mustang. Ticktock stopped grazingand looked up inquiringly at his suddenly large audience.
"You traded your grandfather's gold watch for _that_," Mr. Meadows askedfinally, with a contemptuous wave of his hand toward the horse.
"Uh-uh." Jim sensed that matters were rapidly becoming difficult, so hetried to ease the situation as much as he could. "He's the smartest horseyou ever saw."
"I don't know how smart the horse is," said his father, "but I'mbeginning to have some doubts about you, Jim. I gave you that watchbecause I thought you would take care of it and appreciate it."
"But I did appreciate it!" cried Jim in a hurt voice.
"Not enough, apparently, to prevent you from trading it off for abroken-down piece of horseflesh."
"He isn't broken-down," replied Jim, coming to the defense of Ticktock."He's a beautiful horse."
"Well I'll be--"
"Carl!" said Mrs. Meadows sharply.
"Well, it's enough to make a man swear," said Mr. Meadows. "Jim, whopalmed this crazy-looking nag off on you? I'm going to take it back andget your watch back."
"I don't want to trade back," cried Jim. "I want to keep Ticktock."
"Who was it?" repeated his father. Mr. Meadows' usually good-naturedexpression was replaced by one of angry determination. Jim knew he hadbest answer the question.
"A traveling horse trader named Ned Evarts," he replied.
"A traveling horse trader!" shouted Mr. Meadows, grabbing his head in hishands in despair. "That is the last straw. There's no telling where therascal is now. Still, I'm so disgusted that I've half a mind to phone thesheriff to see if the man can be located."
"Don't do that, Dad," Jim pleaded. "He asked me if I was sure it would beall right with you."
"Well that is about as low a piece of swindling as I've everencountered," said the older man, "taking advantage of a boy!"
"He wasn't a swindler. Besides, he said he'd be back this fall and if Iwasn't satisfied, he'd trade back."
"Back this fall," scoffed his father. "Why he'll have that watch in thefirst pawn shop he finds. He's probably laughing now at how he got rid ofsuch a broken-down old plug."
Miserable as he was, Jim was not going to let anyone make remarks aboutTicktock. "He isn't broken-down and he isn't old either. Only six yearsold."
"Six years old!" said Mr. Meadows scornfully. "Why he's closer tosixteen. Did you look at his teeth?"
"No."
"Well, I'll show you something about your valuable horse!" said CarlMeadows, advancing toward Ticktock.
The mustang had
been watching and listening to the argument withinterest. He couldn't understand the words, but there was little elsethat he missed. The frequent looks of contempt that Carl Meadows hadgiven him hadn't passed unnoticed. Ticktock was a horse of considerableindependence. He wanted people to like him, but if they didn't, he wastedlittle time in trying to win their favor. Affection was a two-way affairwith him. Mrs. Meadows and Jean were neutral and puzzled respectively, soTicktock reserved judgment on them. But the mustang definitely did notlike the tall man. When Mr. Meadows reached out confidently to open hisjaws, Ticktock promptly took a nip at one of the outstretched hands. Itwasn't a savage bite--just a moderate bite, as the mustang didn't hatethe strange man. He merely didn't want to be handled by anyone whodisliked him. However, the nip was enough to take the skin off one fingerand draw blood.
Mr. Meadows jerked his arm back and really cursed this time. He shook theinjured hand and glared with hatred at the pony.
"That settles it. That mean-tempered beast has got to go. I won't have avicious horse on my place. The next thing you know he will kill someone."
Jim was very alarmed at the accident. He hadn't expected outrightapproval of his trade, but he certainly had not anticipated such violentopposition. Now the biting had climaxed the situation. He felt sorryabout his father's injured hand but somehow he knew how Ticktock felt andwas in sympathy with him too.
"He isn't vicious, Dad. He's just not used to you. Look here."
Before his father could stop him, Jim stepped forward and took hold ofTicktock's muzzle. He opened the mustang's mouth easily.
"Want to see his teeth?"
"No thank you. I've felt them; that's enough." Mr. Meadows was a verytolerant man, but he was human and had a streak of stubbornness. He hadtaken his stand and was not going to back down. "I've said all I'm goingto say about that horse. Come help me get the groceries out of the car."
All through the chores Jim and his father maintained strict silence aboutthe mustang. Jim performed his routine work from habit, for his mind wasbusy with its overwhelming burden of misery. After the chores he wentquietly in the house and washed for supper. During the meal he satabjectly staring at his plate, eating scarcely anything. Mr. Meadowscould not help noticing his son's misery; but Jim's father was angry anddetermined, so he too sat in tight-lipped silence. Mrs. Meadowsmaintained her stand of complete neutrality. That left only Jean, who hadforgotten the argument and just wondered why everyone was so silent.
After supper Mr. Meadows went into the living room. Jim waited a fewminutes and then followed, determined to make another attempt to changehis father's stand. Mr. Meadows had always been very reasonable before.Jim's mother left the dishes and went in the living room also, fearing apeacemaker might be needed.
"Look, Dad," said Jim, trying to approach the subject gradually, "there'san empty stall in the barn."
"I said the horse was not going to stay," said Mr. Meadows. "I simplywill not waste feed on a useless, mean-tempered horse."
"He won't use any feed," Jim pointed out. "Just grass."
"In the winter there is snow covering the grass," said the older mandryly.
"I'll earn money this summer to feed him through the winter!" declaredJim confidently. "Besides, I already have three dollars."
He reached in his pocket to make certain he still had his precious threedollars. His hand found the fifteen that Colonel Flesher had paid for thecalf. In the excitement he had forgotten to give the money to his father.
"Here's the fifteen dollars Colonel Flesher gave me for the calf."
Mr. Meadows pocketed the money. "It's a good thing he didn't come beforethe horse trader, or you probably would have thrown in the fifteendollars with the watch."
"I would not," said Jim bitterly. He was now even more hurt than before."The money wasn't mine but the watch was. You gave it to me."
Everything seemed to mount up in Jim's mind. He had felt like sheddingtears several times since his family's return, but he was no crybaby andhad held them back. Now once again he began to choke up dangerously; sohe started to leave the room.
Mr. Meadows began to be somewhat sorry about his last words. He realizedthat in his anger he had spoken rather hastily, and he saw his son wasdeeply hurt.
"I'm sorry, Jim," he said finally and rather awkwardly. "I shouldn't havesaid that. I know you would never be dishonest or trade off anything thatdidn't belong to you. I did give you the watch and it was your property.It's just that I attached a lot of sentiment to the watch and thought youwould too."
Mrs. Meadows had been weighing the problem all evening. She hadn't beentoo favorably impressed by Ticktock, but she knew with a mother'sinstinct how precious the rawboned pony was to her son. Now that herhusband was in a slightly more softened mood she decided to strike.
"Carl, come in the kitchen a few minutes," she said.
As Jim waited anxiously, he could hear low voices coming from thekitchen. He knew his parents as well as they knew him and suspected thathis mother was coming to his rescue. When his parents returned to theliving room, Mrs. Meadows was looking determined and a trifle triumphant,while her husband was embarrassedly trying to look indulgent. Jim sat upexpectantly.
"Your mother and I have talked over this matter," announced Mr. Meadows."We've decided to arrive at a compromise with you. You can keep the horsethis summer providing he isn't too mean and causes no trouble. But thisfall he goes. I will not feed him through the winter."
"Hurrah!" shouted Jim and dashed out of the house.
When you are not quite thirteen a summer is a lifetime. The fall seemed amillion years away--a tiny cloud away over on the horizon. Why schoolhadn't even ended for the summer as yet. Jim went up to where Ticktockstood, still tied to the orchard fence. He stroked the mustang's head andtold him the good news.
"It's all set, Ticktock. You can stay. We've got the whole summertogether. You're going to get fat and really like it here. Now don't mindif Dad doesn't seem to like you. He's really an awful nice Dad. It's justthat grown-ups don't understand a lot of things. You sorta have to makeallowances for them. We'll show everybody what a good horse you are. Onlyif we're going to make a good impression you can't go around bitingpeople."
The mustang took the good news very calmly.
"Come on, old boy; I'll show you your new stall. It might rain tonightand we don't want you to catch cold."