Their first tentative pulls at the stump were taken with caution, until their driver and themselves had taken the full measure of the strength of the enemy.

But when once Aleck had made up his mind that victory was possible, and had given them the call for the final effort, then his team put their bodies and souls into the pull, and never drew back till something came.

Their driver was accustomed to boast that never yet had they failed to honor his call.
Farquhar's handsome blacks, on the other hand, were never handled after this fashion.

They were slow and sure and steady, like their driver.
Their great weight gave them a mighty advantage in a pull, but never, in all the solemn course of their existence, had they thrown themselves into any doubtful trial of strength.

In a slow, steady haul they were to be relied upon; but they never could be got to jerk, and a jerk is an important feature in stump-hauling tactics.