"The best trick of all was telling the time and doing questions in
arithmetic. The Italian pulled his watch out of his pocket and showed it
to the first pony, whose name was Diamond, and said, 'What time is it?'
The pony looked at it, then scratched four times with his forefoot on
the platform. The Italian said, 'Zat's good--four o'clock. But it's a
few minutes after four--how many?' The pony scratched again five times.
The Italian showed his watch to the audience, and said that it was just
five minutes past four. Then he asked the pony how old he was. He
scratched four times. That meant four years. He asked him how many days
in a week there were; how many months in a year; and he gave him some
questions in addition and subtraction, and the pony answered them all
correctly. Of course, the Italian was giving him some sign; but, though
we watched him closely, we couldn't make out what it was. At last, he
told the pony that he had been very good, and had done his lessons well;
if it would rest him, he might be naughty a little while. All of a
sudden a wicked look came into the creature's eyes. He turned around,
and kicked up his heels at his master, he pushed over the table and
chairs, and knocked down a blackboard where he had been rubbing out
figures with a sponge held in his mouth.
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