Page:Palo'mine (1925).pdf/76

 seemed to do no harm, for Palo'mine was as different in the harness as he was in the saddle, as black is from white. It was not the intention to use him much in the harness, but Halsey's aunt, Miss Bliss, wanted to be driven to town occasionally and the Colonel said it would do no harm to teach Palo'mine the harness.

He discovered that the harness was quite different from the saddle. The breeching made him want to kick. It tickled and chafed his flanks in a very unpleasant manner. But Halsey talked to him when he first put on the harness and patted and smoothed the horse's flanks with his hands, and told him in horse language that it was all right. For by this time the boy had partly mastered horse language. In time he was to be an adept, but now he merely understood the rudiments of the horse vocabulary. For instance when Palo'mine whinnied joyously as Halsey came into the stable in the morning, he knew that meant "Good Morning." When he nickered coaxingly at feed time Halsey knew it