There was a buggy with a frisky horse attached standing in front of a house.

The man had gone inside and very imprudently left his child, a little fellow of some five years of age, to sit there in the vehicle, not even bothering to hitch the beast.
"Well, the boy, like most kids would do, had started playing with the whip; and I saw him give the horse quite a blow.

No doubt he was imitating his father in doing that.

The spirited beast started rearing, and then acted as if about to make a dash down the street.

It would have been putting the child's life in danger, you can easily see.
"I started to run, but never could have made it.