FLYING FEET


When July brought hot, dry weather and the grass became short in the
pasture Johnnie Green no longer turned Twinkleheels out to graze. He
kept him in a stall in the barn and fed him oats and hay three times a
day.

It was at that time that Johnnie Green made an interesting discovery. A
row of currant bushes grew behind the barn. And one day when Johnnie
stripped off a few stems of the red fruit and stood in the back door of
the barn, eating it, he happened to snap a currant at Twinkleheels.

The result both pleased and surprised him. When the currant struck
Twinkleheels he laid back his ears, dropped his head, and let fly with
both hind feet.

Johnnie Green promptly forgot that he had intended to eat those
currants. One by one he threw them at Twinkleheels. It made no
difference where they hit the pony. Whenever he felt one, he kicked.
Sometimes he kicked only the air; sometimes his feet crashed against the
side of his stall.

Throwing currants at Twinkleheels became one of Johnnie Green's favorite
sports. Whenever boys from neighboring farms came to play with him,
Johnnie was sure to entertain them by taking them out behind the barn to
show them how high he could make Twinkleheels kick.

As a mark of special favor, Johnnie would sometimes let his friends
flick a few currants at his pet. And sometimes they would even pelt the