everybody that he met would speak about his new shoes. But nobody paid
any attention to them. Everybody seemed to stare at Johnnie Green as
soon as he jumped out of the buggy.

"Why are folks looking at Johnnie?" Twinkleheels asked old dog Spot, who
had come running up to meet him.

"Haven't you noticed?" Spot cried. "Didn't you _hear_ anything when
Johnnie began to walk on the barn floor?"

"No!"

"Well, you're slow to-day," said Spot. "Johnnie Green's wearing some new
shoes that his father bought for him in the village. It's queer that you
didn't notice them.... Aren't they nice and squeaky?"

XIX

THRASHING TIME

The pair of bays were feeling grumpy. Thrashing time had come. And they
knew that they would have to spend long hours in the tread mill out in
the field, where the oats were stacked. They grumbled a good deal, as
they stood in their stalls.

"I don't see why you object to turning the tread mill for Farmer Green,"
Twinkleheels said to them. "I'd like to try my hand at it--or my feet, I
should say. I should think it would be great fun. Yesterday I saw
Johnnie Green and some other boys walking on the tread mill and making
it go. They seemed to find it a lark."

"Huh!" said one of the bays. "They'd _hate_ it if they had to walk up
hill hour after hour and never get anywhere. The noise of the tread mill
and the thrashing machine is most unpleasant."

"It wouldn't be so bad," said his mate, "if Farmer Green would let us
eat all we wanted of the oats that we help thrash. But he doesn't give
us even an extra measure."

"We'd run away," remarked the bay that had spoken first, "except that
running away wouldn't do us any good. All our running would only make
the mill turn faster."

"We can't even stand still if we want to," his mate muttered. "There's a
bar that crosses the top of the tread mill, right in front of us. Farmer
Green ties us to it. There we are! When he unlocks the tread mill we
have to start walking or we'd slide down backwards; and unless our
halters broke, our necks would get a terrible stretching."

The old horse Ebenezer, who stood between Twinkleheels and the bays and
couldn't miss hearing what was said, looked scornfully at the two
grumblers.

"Think of the oats Farmer Green gives you every day!" he exclaimed. "I
should suppose you'd be glad to earn some of them."

"The trouble is--" said the bay nearest him--"the trouble is, we have to
earn not only the oats that we e