Helen Fuller Orton

“ There was no work to be done on the farm in winter; so Prince and Daisy stood all day in their stalls in the Old Red Barn. [Pg 56]
"How would you like a long sleigh ride to-day, Bobby?" asked father one morning.
"I'm ready for one; that would be great fun. Where are you going?" answered Bobby.
"Well, harvest time has come," said father. "So Prince and Daisy and I are going to help harvest butter and ice cream."
"This is not harvest time," said Bobby; "harvest time is in the summer when it is very hot. And besides, Prince and Daisy cannot make butter and ice cream. ”

“ He will not jump or run away even if you meet a threshing machine." [Pg 4]
"I am glad of that," said mother. "Daisy jumps to one side if even a piece of paper blows near her."
"He is a good horse," said Farmer Hill. "He will not run away, but he is very strong-bitted and will have his own way sometimes. It would take a strong arm to hold him back if he wanted to run fast."
"What is his name?" asked Sue.
"His name is Prince," said father.
"That is a fine name," said Sue.
"I hope Prince will prove to be a good horse," said mother. ”

“ So Bobby ran along beside father down the lane to the Old Red Barn.
Father harnessed Prince and Daisy, drove them to the field below the barn and hitched them to a tool with a shiny steel point. [Pg 25]
"But, father, that is a plow," said Bobby. "Mother does not make bread with a plow. She makes it in a pan and stirs it with a big spoon." ”

“ Just then Bobby came running in and shouted: "Father's coming with the new horse."
All three looked toward the road—mother and John and Sue.
Down the road was father in the [Pg 3] buggy, driving Daisy while he led the new horse behind the buggy with a halter.
All the family went out to see the new horse when Farmer Hill reached the back yard.
"He is not as handsome as I had hoped," said Sue, "but he has a kind face."
"Can he go fast?" asked John.
"He is not a race-horse," said father, "but he has long, slim legs and can go over the ground pretty fast—quite fast enough for us." ”

“ HOW ROVER RESCUED LITTLE YELLOW CHICK VI
Mrs. Plymouth Rock lived in the chicken coop out by the wood-pile with her brood of eleven chicks. There were black chicks and yellow chicks, but the nicest of all was Little Yellow Chick.
Mother Hen always stayed in the coop.
The little chicks would jump out between the slats and go off through the grass and into the driveway and among the chips of the wood-pile.
When Mother Hen wanted them to come home she would call, "Cluck, [Pg 35] cluck, cluck, cluck!" and all the little chicks would come running to the coop. ”

“ Hill looked over that way and saw the cows in the cornfield.
Farmer Hill had gone to town that day, so he could not get the cows out of the corn. The hired man was down in the field by the woods, so he could not get the cows out of the corn. [Pg 18]
"Who will get the cows out of the corn?" thought Mrs. Hill.
Going to the back door, she spied Rover taking his afternoon nap. "Rover, Rover," she called, "the cows are in the corn." But Rover only opened one eye a very little bit and wagged his tail, a very weeny mite, and went on with his nap. ”

“ One day Rover lay under the apple tree in the back yard, taking his afternoon nap. Just over the fence in the pasture Farmer Hill's cows were grazing.
Suddenly Molly, the Big Red Cow, came near the stone wall on the farther side of the pasture. She smelled the corn in Neighbor Newman's cornfield beyond the stone wall.
Now if there is one thing that cows [Pg 17] like better than anything else, it is growing sweet corn. ”

“ Farmer Hill intended to come back on the eleven o'clock train; but his business took him longer than he expected, so he could not come until the next train at one o'clock.
Meanwhile Prince stood very still and patient for some time. Then he began to take a few steps forward once in a while, and then a few steps backward. [Pg 43]
Prince liked to go. He did not like to stand still so long.
Every time he stepped back and forth, the knot in the halter loosened a little. After a while, about one o'clock, it became entirely untied. ”

“ Soon father started the horses while he held the handles of the plow so its shiny steel point would dig down into the hard earth.
Straight to the other end of the field they went, leaving behind them a long furrow of brown fresh earth. ”

“ The [Pg 6] oats there were no better and the hay no sweeter. But that had been his home all his life, so he kept thinking about it and wishing he were there.
The fact was that Prince was homesick.
"I'll go back there if I get a chance," thought Prince, "and live in my old stall, with the horses in Farmer Ross's barn."
[Pg 7]
II
The next day after Prince came to Cloverfield Farm, Farmer Hill had to go to the city. He took Bobby with him and they were gone until afternoon.
All the other horses were out in the field working. Prince was standing in his stall, very lonesome. ”

“ John and mother were waiting for father and came out on the back porch as they heard the wheels coming. [Pg 102]
"We were afraid something had happened to you, it is so late," said mother.
Then father told them how the bridge was gone and how Prince had refused to go on.
"But I cannot understand," said he, "why he would not come into the yard by the driveway."
"I'll go and see," said John.
John took the lantern and went down toward the road.
In a moment he came running back.
"Come here," he called. "That big flash of lightning must have struck here. There is a great hole in the ground." ”

“ After a while mother said to John: "Prince must be thirsty. Father may not be back for some time, so I think you had better let Prince have a drink."
John opened the stable door and led him to the watering trough in the barn-yard. ”

“ So that is how Prince and Rover happened to be written.
H. F. O.
[Pg 1]
I
At Cloverfield Farm there were four horses—Dobbin and Bird, Dan and Daisy. Dan was getting old so he could not go fast or work hard any more.
"We need another horse," said Farmer Hill one morning. "Mr. Ross has some for sale. I am going over to look at them to-day and perhaps I will buy one."
"I hope," said John, "that you will get one that can go fast—faster than Daisy." [Pg 2]
"I hope," said Sue, "that you will get a fine-looking horse." ”

“ It is Prince and Daisy's bread too."
[Pg 29]
V
Down on Cloverfield Farm the afternoon sun was sinking toward the West.
The swallows were coming home to their nests in the barn and a gentle breeze was starting the windmill.
Farmer Hill looked at his watch; then he went to the bars at the head of the long lane and began putting them down.
Rover, seeing this, came running up to him. "Yes, Rover," said Farmer Hill, "it is time to go for the cows."
Down the long lane trotted Rover, [Pg 30] past the apple orchard, past the clover field, past the field of wheat stubble, to the thirteen-acre lot. ”