Chapter Three: The Baby Pony Wins A Name
The tiny pony grew older and stronger and a little
bigger. The other colts let him play with them. They didn’t make so much fun of
him after they got to know him. The Baby Pony couldn’t run as fast as the
bigger ponies, but his short legs could kick, just the same. And his brand new
teeth could nip hard.
But the Baby Pony still felt ashamed and unhappy because he didn’t grow big like the others. More and more, he wandered from his mother’s side. He roamed all over the hills, all by himself. He strayed in the woods. He drank from running streams. He waded in a shallow brook. But at night he went back to his mother’s stall and ate his supper and went to sleep.
One day the Baby Pony roamed farther away and saw something he hadn’t seen before. He saw some ponies walking inside a low wooden fence. The fence was formed like a ring. The ponies walked around and around the ring.
The Baby Pony trotted down a narrow lane that led to the ring of fence. He went through an open gate. He got nearer to the ring and saw that a boy was holding each pony’s halter. A tall, thin man, with a straw hat on his head, stood in the center of the ring. He held the ends of the long ropes that were tied to the ponies’ halters. The Baby Pony’s dark eyes grew big as he watched the ponies walking around that ring. What were those ponies doing?
The man in the center of the ring shouted to the boys. The boys left their ponies and hopped up on the fence, where they sat and watched the ponies. The ponies kept going around and around the ring, and the boys weren’t leading them.
One of the ponies stopped. The man called. “Giddap!” and the pony started walking. When a couple of the ponies began running, the man shouted “Whoa!” and he pulled the ponies’ ropes, and that made them stop.
The Baby Pony guessed they must be playing a game. He wondered if he was big enough to play it. He liked to hear the man cry “Giddap!” and “Whoah!” He was so interested, watching the ponies, that he didn’t hear his mother walk up beside him. Shorty gave a soft neigh, and nudged her colt.
“So you’ve found your way to riding-school,” whinnied Shorty.
“Riding-school! So that’s what this is!” neighed the Baby Pony.
He had heard some of the colts talking about riding-school, but he hadn’t paid attention to what they said. For that was the day when he had found that tender, green grass really tasted very good.
“I’d lik to do that!” the Baby Pony told his mother. He pawed the ground in excitement. “It looks like fun.”
His mother gave a little snuffling sigh. Shorty felt sorry because her tiny colt had found out about riding-school. She knew that those ponies in the ring were learning to obey orders so that they could carry boys and girls on their backs. And Shorty knew now that her own tiny colt would never grow big enough to carry a boy or girl for a pony-back ride.
“Come back home with me, son,” Shorty nickered sadly.
The Baby Pony followed his mother home. But he felt ashamed to play with the other colts. So he ran off again.
This time he trotted through the woods, and way over to the far side of the paddock. The Baby Pony had never been so far before. He saw a big crowd of people gathered around another fenced ring.
He went right up to the fence where other ponies were standing and watching. The Baby Pony’s ears stood straight up when he saw what was going on here.
There was only one pony in this ring. He was a black and white pony, and he had bright blue plumes on the sides of his bridle. He was pitching and bucking. The queerest-looking little, tiny man was holding on to his back! The tiny little man was dressed just like a cowboy.
“Who’s that?” whinnied the Baby Pony to the pony standing next to him.
“That’s a monkey,” the other pony said. “And he’s a smart one. Almost as smart as people. You can see that by the way he’s grabbed that pony’s mane!”
The pony and the monkey went around and around the ring. The pony was doing his best to throw off the monkey. It ws rough for the poor little monkey, but he stuck on.
A man shouted “Halt!” and the pony stopped and whinnied loudly. The monkey let go of the pony’s mane and put his hat on his funny little head. The monkey’s cowboy hat was tied to a strong string that went around his neck.
“That pony will be a circus pony some day,” the Baby Pony heard the other ponies say. “They’re training him to do all sorts of tricks,” they said.
“Look! Look!” whinnied the Baby Pony excitedly. “Look at the monkey standing on his head on the pony’s back!”
All the other ponies gave loud pony laughs, and people who were watching clapped their hands. The Baby Pony whinnied gleefully.
“See how that pony balances the monkey while the monkey does his tricks?” the other ponies neighed.
“That’s hard to do when you’re trotting. It takes a lot of lessons to learn that.”
“I want to be a circus pony,” whinnied the Baby Pony.
Now the other ponies turned and looked at him. And they all laughed.
“Look what wants to be a circus pony!” one of them snorted.
“Why, you little runt,” another one said. “Don’t you know a circus pony has to be tough and strong?”
The Baby Pony’s head drooped with shame because he could never be tough and strong. But just the same, he couldn’t stop watching those lucky ponies who were going to be circus ponies.
All the rest of the morning, he watched the men training them. He forgot there was tender grass to eat and cool spring water to drink and salt blocks to lick. All he wanted to do was to watch the ponies with their gay-colored plumes. How those ponies bobbed their heads when the people clapped!
The Baby Pony was still standing at the side of the ring when he heard the sound of voices he knew. His ears pricked up. He looked around. There was Mr. Culwell! There was Cully! There was Jim!
Then Mr. Culwell was there, stroking the Baby Pony’s head. Jim and Cully were giving him lumps of sugar. They were all so surprised to see him so far from home. The Baby Pony could tell that from the way they acted, even though he couldn’t understand a thing they said.
Mr. Culwell was looking him over gravely, without a word. The two boys stood still, as if they were waiting to hear something very important. The Baby Pony wished he could understand human talk.
“Boys,” Mr. Culwell said at last, “this pony is a midget. Do you think we can make a mascot of him?”
Cully and Jim let out whoops of joy!
No, the Baby Pony didn’t know what they were talking about. He wouldn’t have known anyway what a “mascot” was. But he did see that he had pleased Mr. Culwell and Cully and Jim. So he threw back his head and gave a loud whinny. Maybe they were going to let him be a circus pony!
“We’ll see if this little fellow’s smart enough,” Mr. Culwell said. “It takes a bright pony to be a mascot. A little dumb-bell won’t do. Not even if he is cute.”
“Can we try him out now?” begged Jim.
“Good idea,” Mr. Culwell replied. “The other ponies are through their lessons for the day.”
The Baby Pony saw then that the ponies in the ring were being led slowly back to their stalls to rest. They came out of the ring and went through the gate, and a man gave each pony a fat carrot to eat.
The Baby Pony stamped the ground. He was impatient. He wanted to show Mr. Culwell, and the boys, that he could learn to be a circus pony.
Cully led the Baby Pony into the ring. He picked up a halter from the bench and held it so the Baby Pony could look at it. Then Cully slipped it over his soft black nose.
The Baby Pony stood still. He felt a fly on his flank, but he wouldn’t swish his tail to brush it off. “I’ll show ‘em,” he told himself. “I’ll show ‘em I can be a circus pony.”
When the Baby Pony saw the long rope tied to the halter, he neighed happily. “I am going to be a circus pony!” he told himself. He wanted to prance with joy. But he didn’t forget to stand still.
Then Jim led the Baby Pony around and around the ring by his halter. Mr. Culwell stood in the center of the ring and he held the end of the long rope.
The Baby Pony had seen the other ponies learn their lessons, so he knew what he was supposed to do. When Jim stopped leading him, the Baby Pony kept right on walking. Never once did he stop or buck or run.
Jim jumped up on the fence and sat next to Cully. The boys’ glowing eyes followed the tiny pony, and they kept their fingers crossed.
At last Mr. Culwell shouted “Whoa!” and the Baby Pony stopped. Mr. Culwell called to the boys, “This pony’s good! Why, I didn’t have to pull the rope!”
“Didn’t I tell you he was smart?” yelled Cully to his father. “He’s plenty smart!”
Then Mr. Culwell shouted “Giddap!” And the Baby Pony started walking.
Cully jumped down from the fence and prodded the Baby Pony from behind. The colt flattened his ears and reared on his hind legs. Mr. Culwell tugged the rope to make him come down.
The Baby Pony’s temper rose for a moment. But he remembered seeing the other ponies bucking. That was what he was supposed to do next! So he began bucking too. How that Baby Pony could buck!
Finally the lesson was over. Mr. Culwell took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face. “This pony catches on fast,” he said. “I don’t understand it.”
“I do,” shouted Jim, hopping down from the fence. “He’s been watching the other ponies go through their stunts.”
Mr. Culwell laughed, “If this pony is that bright, we’ll be sure to have him trained by football season.” And he threw the rope to Cully.
The Baby Pony whinnied gleefully. He still didn’t know fore sure what it was all about, but he did know for sure that his three human friends were very pleased with him. He could hardly wait to tell his mother that he was “going to do tricks like a circus pony.” He whinnied joyously again.
“Listen to the little fellow,” Cully said, bringing the Baby Pony up to Mr. Culwell. “Sounds as if he knows what we’re talking about.”
“We’d better start right away calling him ‘Peruna,’” Mr Culwell said, “so he’ll get used to his name.”
“How come Southern Methodist University always calls its mascot ‘Peruna,’ Mr. Culwell?” asked Jim Carlyle.
“I know why,” put in Cully. “A medicine that was called ‘Peruna’ used to be made in Texas years ago. People took it when they needed pep. Well, in those days, when S.M.U.’s team wasn’t winning, and they needed pep, students would yell to the team, ‘Need some Peruna, fellows?’ So when S.M.U. got their first mascot to bring pep and luck to their teams, they called the mascot ‘Peruna.’ And all their mascots have been named Peruna ever since.”
“that’s about the way it was.” Agreed Mr. Culwell.
Jim pulled something out from his pocket, and held out his hand to the Baby Pony. “Come here, Peruna,” he called.
The Baby Pony saw a big red apple in Jim’s hand. He trotted over to get it.
Jim threw the apple to Cully, and Cully called, “Peruna! Here Peruna!” When the Baby Pony saw that Cully had the bright, red apple, he trotted over to him.
But then Cully tossed the apple to his father. Mr. Culwell held out the pretty apple while he called, “Peruna, Peruna.” The Baby Pony trotted up to Mr. Culwell, and he got the apple that time.
After that, the Baby Pony knew his new name was Peruna.
But the Baby Pony still felt ashamed and unhappy because he didn’t grow big like the others. More and more, he wandered from his mother’s side. He roamed all over the hills, all by himself. He strayed in the woods. He drank from running streams. He waded in a shallow brook. But at night he went back to his mother’s stall and ate his supper and went to sleep.
One day the Baby Pony roamed farther away and saw something he hadn’t seen before. He saw some ponies walking inside a low wooden fence. The fence was formed like a ring. The ponies walked around and around the ring.
The Baby Pony trotted down a narrow lane that led to the ring of fence. He went through an open gate. He got nearer to the ring and saw that a boy was holding each pony’s halter. A tall, thin man, with a straw hat on his head, stood in the center of the ring. He held the ends of the long ropes that were tied to the ponies’ halters. The Baby Pony’s dark eyes grew big as he watched the ponies walking around that ring. What were those ponies doing?
The man in the center of the ring shouted to the boys. The boys left their ponies and hopped up on the fence, where they sat and watched the ponies. The ponies kept going around and around the ring, and the boys weren’t leading them.
One of the ponies stopped. The man called. “Giddap!” and the pony started walking. When a couple of the ponies began running, the man shouted “Whoa!” and he pulled the ponies’ ropes, and that made them stop.
The Baby Pony guessed they must be playing a game. He wondered if he was big enough to play it. He liked to hear the man cry “Giddap!” and “Whoah!” He was so interested, watching the ponies, that he didn’t hear his mother walk up beside him. Shorty gave a soft neigh, and nudged her colt.
“So you’ve found your way to riding-school,” whinnied Shorty.
“Riding-school! So that’s what this is!” neighed the Baby Pony.
He had heard some of the colts talking about riding-school, but he hadn’t paid attention to what they said. For that was the day when he had found that tender, green grass really tasted very good.
“I’d lik to do that!” the Baby Pony told his mother. He pawed the ground in excitement. “It looks like fun.”
His mother gave a little snuffling sigh. Shorty felt sorry because her tiny colt had found out about riding-school. She knew that those ponies in the ring were learning to obey orders so that they could carry boys and girls on their backs. And Shorty knew now that her own tiny colt would never grow big enough to carry a boy or girl for a pony-back ride.
“Come back home with me, son,” Shorty nickered sadly.
The Baby Pony followed his mother home. But he felt ashamed to play with the other colts. So he ran off again.
This time he trotted through the woods, and way over to the far side of the paddock. The Baby Pony had never been so far before. He saw a big crowd of people gathered around another fenced ring.
He went right up to the fence where other ponies were standing and watching. The Baby Pony’s ears stood straight up when he saw what was going on here.
There was only one pony in this ring. He was a black and white pony, and he had bright blue plumes on the sides of his bridle. He was pitching and bucking. The queerest-looking little, tiny man was holding on to his back! The tiny little man was dressed just like a cowboy.
“Who’s that?” whinnied the Baby Pony to the pony standing next to him.
“That’s a monkey,” the other pony said. “And he’s a smart one. Almost as smart as people. You can see that by the way he’s grabbed that pony’s mane!”
The pony and the monkey went around and around the ring. The pony was doing his best to throw off the monkey. It ws rough for the poor little monkey, but he stuck on.
A man shouted “Halt!” and the pony stopped and whinnied loudly. The monkey let go of the pony’s mane and put his hat on his funny little head. The monkey’s cowboy hat was tied to a strong string that went around his neck.
“That pony will be a circus pony some day,” the Baby Pony heard the other ponies say. “They’re training him to do all sorts of tricks,” they said.
“Look! Look!” whinnied the Baby Pony excitedly. “Look at the monkey standing on his head on the pony’s back!”
All the other ponies gave loud pony laughs, and people who were watching clapped their hands. The Baby Pony whinnied gleefully.
“See how that pony balances the monkey while the monkey does his tricks?” the other ponies neighed.
“That’s hard to do when you’re trotting. It takes a lot of lessons to learn that.”
“I want to be a circus pony,” whinnied the Baby Pony.
Now the other ponies turned and looked at him. And they all laughed.
“Look what wants to be a circus pony!” one of them snorted.
“Why, you little runt,” another one said. “Don’t you know a circus pony has to be tough and strong?”
The Baby Pony’s head drooped with shame because he could never be tough and strong. But just the same, he couldn’t stop watching those lucky ponies who were going to be circus ponies.
All the rest of the morning, he watched the men training them. He forgot there was tender grass to eat and cool spring water to drink and salt blocks to lick. All he wanted to do was to watch the ponies with their gay-colored plumes. How those ponies bobbed their heads when the people clapped!
The Baby Pony was still standing at the side of the ring when he heard the sound of voices he knew. His ears pricked up. He looked around. There was Mr. Culwell! There was Cully! There was Jim!
Then Mr. Culwell was there, stroking the Baby Pony’s head. Jim and Cully were giving him lumps of sugar. They were all so surprised to see him so far from home. The Baby Pony could tell that from the way they acted, even though he couldn’t understand a thing they said.
Mr. Culwell was looking him over gravely, without a word. The two boys stood still, as if they were waiting to hear something very important. The Baby Pony wished he could understand human talk.
“Boys,” Mr. Culwell said at last, “this pony is a midget. Do you think we can make a mascot of him?”
Cully and Jim let out whoops of joy!
No, the Baby Pony didn’t know what they were talking about. He wouldn’t have known anyway what a “mascot” was. But he did see that he had pleased Mr. Culwell and Cully and Jim. So he threw back his head and gave a loud whinny. Maybe they were going to let him be a circus pony!
“We’ll see if this little fellow’s smart enough,” Mr. Culwell said. “It takes a bright pony to be a mascot. A little dumb-bell won’t do. Not even if he is cute.”
“Can we try him out now?” begged Jim.
“Good idea,” Mr. Culwell replied. “The other ponies are through their lessons for the day.”
The Baby Pony saw then that the ponies in the ring were being led slowly back to their stalls to rest. They came out of the ring and went through the gate, and a man gave each pony a fat carrot to eat.
The Baby Pony stamped the ground. He was impatient. He wanted to show Mr. Culwell, and the boys, that he could learn to be a circus pony.
Cully led the Baby Pony into the ring. He picked up a halter from the bench and held it so the Baby Pony could look at it. Then Cully slipped it over his soft black nose.
The Baby Pony stood still. He felt a fly on his flank, but he wouldn’t swish his tail to brush it off. “I’ll show ‘em,” he told himself. “I’ll show ‘em I can be a circus pony.”
When the Baby Pony saw the long rope tied to the halter, he neighed happily. “I am going to be a circus pony!” he told himself. He wanted to prance with joy. But he didn’t forget to stand still.
Then Jim led the Baby Pony around and around the ring by his halter. Mr. Culwell stood in the center of the ring and he held the end of the long rope.
The Baby Pony had seen the other ponies learn their lessons, so he knew what he was supposed to do. When Jim stopped leading him, the Baby Pony kept right on walking. Never once did he stop or buck or run.
Jim jumped up on the fence and sat next to Cully. The boys’ glowing eyes followed the tiny pony, and they kept their fingers crossed.
At last Mr. Culwell shouted “Whoa!” and the Baby Pony stopped. Mr. Culwell called to the boys, “This pony’s good! Why, I didn’t have to pull the rope!”
“Didn’t I tell you he was smart?” yelled Cully to his father. “He’s plenty smart!”
Then Mr. Culwell shouted “Giddap!” And the Baby Pony started walking.
Cully jumped down from the fence and prodded the Baby Pony from behind. The colt flattened his ears and reared on his hind legs. Mr. Culwell tugged the rope to make him come down.
The Baby Pony’s temper rose for a moment. But he remembered seeing the other ponies bucking. That was what he was supposed to do next! So he began bucking too. How that Baby Pony could buck!
Finally the lesson was over. Mr. Culwell took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face. “This pony catches on fast,” he said. “I don’t understand it.”
“I do,” shouted Jim, hopping down from the fence. “He’s been watching the other ponies go through their stunts.”
Mr. Culwell laughed, “If this pony is that bright, we’ll be sure to have him trained by football season.” And he threw the rope to Cully.
The Baby Pony whinnied gleefully. He still didn’t know fore sure what it was all about, but he did know for sure that his three human friends were very pleased with him. He could hardly wait to tell his mother that he was “going to do tricks like a circus pony.” He whinnied joyously again.
“Listen to the little fellow,” Cully said, bringing the Baby Pony up to Mr. Culwell. “Sounds as if he knows what we’re talking about.”
“We’d better start right away calling him ‘Peruna,’” Mr Culwell said, “so he’ll get used to his name.”
“How come Southern Methodist University always calls its mascot ‘Peruna,’ Mr. Culwell?” asked Jim Carlyle.
“I know why,” put in Cully. “A medicine that was called ‘Peruna’ used to be made in Texas years ago. People took it when they needed pep. Well, in those days, when S.M.U.’s team wasn’t winning, and they needed pep, students would yell to the team, ‘Need some Peruna, fellows?’ So when S.M.U. got their first mascot to bring pep and luck to their teams, they called the mascot ‘Peruna.’ And all their mascots have been named Peruna ever since.”
“that’s about the way it was.” Agreed Mr. Culwell.
Jim pulled something out from his pocket, and held out his hand to the Baby Pony. “Come here, Peruna,” he called.
The Baby Pony saw a big red apple in Jim’s hand. He trotted over to get it.
Jim threw the apple to Cully, and Cully called, “Peruna! Here Peruna!” When the Baby Pony saw that Cully had the bright, red apple, he trotted over to him.
But then Cully tossed the apple to his father. Mr. Culwell held out the pretty apple while he called, “Peruna, Peruna.” The Baby Pony trotted up to Mr. Culwell, and he got the apple that time.
After that, the Baby Pony knew his new name was Peruna.