spent a great deal of his time with his eyes half shut, dozing. If
Twinkleheels spoke to him, Ebenezer seldom heard him the first time. And
often Ebenezer even fell asleep while Twinkleheels was talking to him.

Twinkleheels always moved smartly. Ebenezer took his time about
everything. When anybody backed him between the thills of a wagon he was
as slow as Timothy Turtle and no more graceful. And while people
harnessed him he usually sighed heavily now and then, because he dreaded
being hurried along the road.

Before Twinkleheels came to the farm to live, Johnnie Green had thought
it quite a lark to drive or ride Ebenezer. Now, however, Johnnie paid
little heed to the old horse. And, to tell the truth, Ebenezer was
content to be let alone.

"This boy must have found it a bit poky, riding you," Twinkleheels
remarked to Ebenezer one day when he noticed that the old horse was
actually wide-awake.

"He found me safe," Ebenezer replied. "That's why Farmer Green let
Johnnie ride me."

"It's a wonder you didn't fall asleep and tumble down and throw
Johnnie," Twinkleheels said.

"I'm very sure-footed," Ebenezer told him proudly. "Of course, a person
will step on a loose stone now and then. But I've never really stumbled
in my whole life."

"How old are you?" Twinkleheels inquired.