bidding began, he watched every
movement and word of the auctioneer with breathless anxiety, raising
quite a laugh at one time, by answering his oft-repeated question "Will
anybody give me five? I have thirty--will anybody give me five?" with an
eager "I will!" that was easily heard by everybody in the crowd. It was
an immense relief to him, when, at length, after what seemed to him most
unnecessary persistence in trying to get more, the auctioneer called out
"Going, going, going, at thirty-five dollars. Will you give me any more?
Going at thirty-five--going, going, _gone_; and sold to Mr. Lloyd."

Thirty-five dollars does not seem very much to give for a pony; but
considering that this pony had everything to learn, and nobody to
guarantee his good behaviour, it was a fair enough price for him. The
getting him home proved to be quite a serious undertaking. The strange
sights and sounds of the city streets did not merely frighten him--they
positively crazed him for the time; and it took two strong men, one on
either side of his head, to guide him in safety to the stable. Once
securely fastened in the stall, he quieted down in time, but not one
bite of food would he touch that day, nor the next, although Bert tried
to tempt him with everything of which Brownie had been fond. This
troubled Bert very much. He began to fear his new pony would starve to
death. But his father reassured him.

"Don't be alarmed, my boy. The pony will find his appetite all right so
soon as he gets used to his new quarters," said Mr. Lloyd.

And sure enough on the third morning, Bert, to his great relief, found
the oat box licked clean, and the pony looking round wistfully for
something more to eat. After that, the difficulty lay rather in
satisfying than in tempting his appetite. He proved an insatiable eater.
But then nobody thought of stinting him, especially as his bones were
none too well covered.

It was with great difficulty that he could be persuaded to allow himself
to be groomed. He would start at the touch of the curry-comb, as though
it gave him an electric shock, and Michael, who combined in himself the
offices of groom and gardener, declared that "of all the pesky, fidgety
critters that ever stood on four legs, he never did see the like of this
'ere Sable Islander." Michael's opinion was not improved when he came to
break the little Sable Islander in, for he led him such a dance day
after day that his stout heart was well-nigh bro