The blacksmith patted Twinkleheels and picked up one of his forefeet.
Then the blacksmith took a chisel and began to pare away at the horny
hoof. Twinkleheels looked over the blacksmith's shoulder. And what he
saw gave him a start.
"Great green grass!" he cried to Ebenezer. "Is he going to cut my foot
off?"
"No, indeed!" Ebenezer answered. "The blacksmith always pares my feet a
bit when he fits new shoes. He may have to trim yours a good deal,
because you've never worn shoes and your feet have never been pared."
In spite of his resolve to be on his best behavior, Twinkleheels had
been tempted to pull his foot from between the blacksmith's knees. And
if Ebenezer hadn't explained that he was in no danger of losing a foot
there's no knowing what might have happened. Twinkleheels breathed a
sigh of relief; and he made not the slightest trouble for the
blacksmith, but waited patiently while his little shoes were being
hammered into shape.
When the blacksmith took the first one that he made and held it by a
pair of pincers against Twinkleheels' hoof there was a quick sizzling.
And a horrid smoke arose. Twinkleheels snorted with fear.
"Easy! Easy, boy!" the blacksmith said to him. And old Ebenezer made
haste to explain that there was no danger.
"Won't my foot be burned?" Twinkleheels faltered.
"Not enough to do any harm," said Ebenezer. "You don't feel any pain, do
you?"
"No!"
"The shoe's not very hot; and the blacksmith wouldn't hold it against
your hoof long enough to harm you," Ebenezer assured him.
Twinkleheels wriggled his nose.
"I must say I don't care for this smoke," he remarked.
"It's no pleasanter for the blacksmith than for you," Ebenezer reminded
him. "If I were you I shouldn't complain. Just see what pretty shoes the
blacksmith has made for you!"
[Illustration: Spot Tells Twinkleheels He is Slow. (Page 90)]
"They're the nicest I've ever seen," Twinkleheels said. "After I wear
them a while and they get shiny on the bottoms, how they will twinkle in
the sunlight when I'm trotting along the road!"
In a few minutes more the blacksmith had nailed all of Twinkleheels'
four shoes to his feet. It seemed to Twinkleheels that he could never
wait until Ebenezer was shod. He was in a great hurry to get out on the
street and show his new shoes to the people in the village.
At last Ebenezer too was fitted out with new shoes. As Farmer Green led
him out of the shop, and Johnnie Green led Twinkleheels, a queer look
came over Twinkleheels' face.
"My goodness!" he cried. "My feet feel very strange."
"What's the matter?" Ebenezer asked him. "Surely your new shoes don't
hurt you!"
"No! They don't hurt, exactly," Twinkleheels replied. "But my feet feel
terribly heavy. These iron shoes aren't as comfortable to wear as I had
expected."
"You'll soon get used to them," said Ebenezer. "In a short time you
won't know you're wearing shoes--unless you happen to lose one."
Twinkleheels had supposed that when they reached Farmer Green's place
everybody that he met would speak about his new shoes. But nobody paid
any attention to them. Everybody seemed to stare at Johnnie Green as
soon as he jumped out of the buggy.
"Why are folks looking at Johnnie?" Twinkleheels asked old dog Spot, who
had come running up to meet him.
"Haven't you noticed?" Spot cried. "Didn't you _hear_ anything when
Johnnie began to walk on the barn floor?"
"No!"
"Well, you're slow to-day," said Spot. "Johnnie Green's wearing some new
shoes that his father bought for him in the village. It's queer that you
didn't notice them.... Aren't they nice and squeaky?"