If you will just stand back a little we will let you see his paces." The crowd drew back on either side of the lane between the rows of tents and booths and from somewhere in the back there was heard a great pawing and trampling, with cries of "Whoa, there! Whoa, there, Lightning!" Then down the aisle there dashed the most absurd comic animal that had ever been seen in Oakdale.

A dilapidated old horse, with crooked legs and sunken sides through which its ribs protruded.

He had widely distended nostrils and his mouth drawn back over huge teeth.

One ear lay flat, while the other stood up straight and wiggled, and his glazed eyes stared wildly.

On his wobbly back sat David, dressed like a jockey and flourishing a whip.
"Gentlemen," went on Hippy, "you here behold an animal of splendid parts.