Then, as Whitey had dragged the remains of the branch from the manger to the floor of the stall, Sam scrambled to the top of the manger and looked over.

"There ain't much left to TAKE away! He's swallered it all except some splinters.

Better give him the water to try and wash it down with." And, as Penrod complied, "My gracious, look at that horse DRINK!" They gave Whitey four buckets of water, and then debated the question of nourishment.

Obviously, this horse could not be trusted with branches, and, after getting their knees black and their backs sodden, they gave up trying to pull enough grass to sustain him.

Then Penrod remembered that horses like apples, both "cooking-apples" and "eating-apples", and Sam mentioned the fact that every autumn his father received a barrel of "cooking-apples" from a cousin who owned a farm.