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Work was not so pressing now Alarden, and to hoe the row of potato plants he was raising from seed He had planted a few potato seeds, just to see what they would do And everyfor the County Fair

Father had shown him how to raise a milk-fed pumpkin They had picked out the best vine in the field, and snipped off all the branches but one, and all the yellow pureen pumpkin they carefully made a little slit on the underside of the vine Under the slit Alround and set a bowl of milk in it Then he put a candle wick in the milk, and the end of the candle wick he put carefully into the slit

Every day the puh the candle wick, and the pu enor as any other pumpkin in the field

Alht her with his half-dollar, and she was so s dipped in milk But she soon learned to drink He kept her in a pen in the

shade, because young pigs grow best in the shade, and he fed her all she could eat She was growing fast, too

So was Alh He drank all the milk he could hold, and at mealtimes he filled his plate so full that he could not eat it all Father looked stern because he left food on his plate, and asked:

“What’s the er than your stomach?”

Then Almanzo tried to s a little row up faster so he could help break the colts

Every day Father took the two-year-olds out, one by one on a long rope, and trained them to start and to stop when he spoke He trained them to wear bridles and harness, and not to be afraid of anything Pretty soon he would hitch each one up with a gentle old horse, and teach it to pull a light cart behind it without being scared But he wouldn’t let Al them

Alhten them; he wouldn’t teach them to jump, or balk, or try to run away But Father wouldn’t trust a nine-year-old

That year Beauty had the prettiest colt Almanzo had ever seen He had a perfect white star on his forehead, and Alht He ran in the pasture with his mother, and once when Father was in town Almanzo went into the pasture

Beauty lifted her head and watched hi, and the little colt ran behind her Almanzo stopped, and stood perfectly still After a while Starlight peeked at him, under Beauty’s neck Almanzo didn’t move Little by little the colt stretched its neck toward Al, wide eyes Beauty nuzzled his back and switched her tail; then she took a step and bit off a clu at Al placidly The colt made one step, then another He was so near that Almanzo could alht came a step nearer Almanzo didn’t even breathe Suddenly the colt turned and ran back to its :

“’Ma-a-a-nzo!”

She had seen hiht she told Father Al, honest he hadn’t, but Father said:

“Let ain and I’ll tan your jacket That’s too good a colt to be spoiled I won’t have you teaching it tricks that I’ll have to train out of it”