"Now note how quick I'll subdue him, how afeard he'll be, you can't goad
him into trying to throw me. Talk about Rarey breaking that old horse
Cruiser, that used to ate his keeper every day for breakfast, he couldn't
compare wid mesilf."

Before Mickey had time to finish his observation, the heels of the mustang
went up almost perpendicularly in the air, and with such suddenness that
Mickey was thrown a dozen feet over his head, alighting upon his hands and
knees.

Fred was amused beyond expression at the discomfiture of his boasting
friend, who was not a little astonished at the manner in which he had been
overthrown.

"Turns up," he said, as he gathered himself on his feet again, "that I was
a little mistook. Such accidents will happen now and then, and it isn't
very kind for a spalpeen like yourself to laugh at me sorrow."

"I can't help it, Mickey, but I'm afraid I can't stick to the back of this
horse. He seems scared and mad, and his back feels mighty slippery without
any saddle or blanket."

"Maybe, if I get on wid ye, the weight of us both will hold him down."

The mustang which hard thrown the Irishman continued to flourish his heels
and disport himself in such a lively style, that his spirit became
contagious, and the four, who were yet upon the ground, now came to their
feet, and after some plunging and rearing, made a rush down the slope, and
were soon out of sight.