finally, after having exhausted their superfluous energy, they walked to
the plow and placed themselves deliberately before it. It looked as if
these animals had come at my call to do the work; I therefore approached
them, with more than needful caution, using many soothing, conciliatory
sounds and words the while, and after a little further study I
discovered how to adjust the ropes to them. There were no blinkers or
reins, nor did these superb animals seem to think any were wanted; but
after I had taken the pole in my hand, and said "Gee up, Dobbin," in a
tone of command, followed by some inarticulate clicks with the tongue,
they rewarded me with a disconcerting stare, and then began dragging the
plow. As long as I held the pole straight the share cut its way evenly
through the mold, but occasionally, owing to my inadvertence, it would
go off at a tangent or curve quite out of the ground; and whenever this
happened the horses would stop, turn round and stare at me, then,
touching their noses together seem to exchange ideas on the subject.
When the first furrow was finished, they did not double back, as I
expected, but went straight away to a distance of thirty yards, and
then, turning, marched back, cutting a fresh furrow parallel with the
first, and as straight as a line. Then they returned to the original
starting-point and cut another, then again to the new furrow, and so on
progressively. All this seemed very wonderful to me, giving the
impression that I had been a skillful plowman all my life without
knowing it. It was interesting work; and I was also amused to see the
little birds that came in numbers from the wood to devour the worms in
the fresh-turned mold; for between their fear of me and their desire to
get the worms, they were in a highly perplexed state, and generally
confined their operations to one end of the furrow while I was away at
the other. The space the horses had marked out for themselves was plowed
up in due time, whereupon they marched off and made a fresh furrow as
before, where there was nothing to guide them; and so the work went on