"All right, you may go, too. Only look out! Don't cry when you fall off.
He who does not once fall down from a horse will not learn to ride."
When Wednesday came, all three of us were taken to the riding-school. We
entered by a large porch, and from the large porch went to a smaller
one. Beyond the porch was a very large room: instead of a floor it had
sand. And in this room were gentlemen and ladies and just such boys as
we. That was the riding-school. The riding-school was not very light,
and there was a smell of horses, and you could hear them snap whips and
call to the horses, and the horses strike their hoofs against the wooden
walls. At first I was frightened and could not see things well. Then our
valet called the riding-master, and said:
"Give these boys some horses: they are going to learn how to ride."
The master said:
"All right!"
Then he looked at me, and said:
"He is very small, yet."
But the valet said:
"He promised not to cry when he falls down."
The master laughed and went away.
Then they brought three saddled horses, and we took off our cloaks and
walked down a staircase to the riding-school. The master was holding a
horse by a cord, and my brothers rode around him. At first they rode at
a slow pace, and later at a trot. Then they brought a pony. It was a red
horse, and his tail was cut off. He was called Ruddy. The master
laughed, and said to me:
"Well, young gentleman, get on your horse!"
I was both happy and afraid, and tried to act in such a manner as not to
be noticed by anybody. For a long time I tried to get my foot into the
stirrup, but could not do it because I was too small. Then the master
raised me up in his hands and put me on the saddle. He said:
"The young master is not heavy,--about two pounds in weight, that is
all."
At first he held me by my hand, but I saw that my brothers were not
held, and so I begged him to let go of me. He said:
"Are you not afraid?"
I was very much afraid, but I said that I was not. I was so much afraid
because Ruddy kept dropping his ears. I thought he was angry at me. The
master said:
"Look out, don't fall down!" and let go of me. At first Ruddy went at a
slow pace, and I sat up straight. But the saddle was sleek, and I was
afraid I would slip off. The master asked me:
"Well, are you fast in the saddle?"