Pit Pony by Joyce Barkhouse Read Free Book Online

of tobacco in his mouth and spat on the ground.
    â€œI’ll speak to the stableman and we’ll talk about it tomorrow. Good night, Willie.”
    Willie was filled with a wild hope. His heart pounded so hard, it hurt. He forgot how tired he was. He ran all the way home and told John what Ned had said.

    â€œI might be goin’ to be a driver,” he shouted with happiness.
    John looked worried. “Calm down, Willie. Your friend, Ned, shouldn’t get your hopes up like that. It’s not likely they’ll let a little boy like you drive a wild horse.”
    â€œBut she’s not really wild,” said Willie.
    â€œLots of men have been killed or injured, drivin’,” said John. “Sometimes there’s a runaway box, if it’s not properly spragged. Sometimes a box goes off the rails and upsets. Sometimes a horse….”
    â€œI don’t care,” interrupted Willie. “I’ll be a good driver if they’ll just give me a chance. You wait and see!”

Chapter 7
    The very next day, the overman arrived at Willie’s trap with another boy to take his place.
    â€œNext time Ned Hall comes through, you get on the box with him. Ned will teach you a few things about driving,” said the overman.
    Willie couldn’t believe his luck. What a good friend Ned Hall had turned out to be!
    Ned came along, and he and Willie sat together on the box.
    â€œGem will work in very low seams,” Ned explained. “Some are only about one metre high. Just a couple of miners work at the face, pickin’ coal. They’ll do the loading. Sometimes it’s so low they have to work on their hands and knees. There’s just barely enough room to get the coal tossed in between the roof and the top of the box.”
    â€œSounds like a tight squeeze,” said Willie.
    Ned agreed. “If you get the job, all you’d have to do would be to drive back and forth as fast as you safely can. The men depend on you to get the coal out. But you’d have to be very careful. You wouldn’t want Gem to stumble on the rough roadway. You wouldn’t want her to scrape her head or shoulders on the ceiling or the sides. Drivin’ isn’t as simple as trappin’, Willie b’y.”
    â€œBut it’s a lot more fun,” said Willie.
    â€œFun!” said Ned, laughing. “I never thought of it as bein’ fun. But I like my work. Now if you was drivin’, when you get out to the landing you would unhitch Gem from the full box. Then you’d hitch onto an empty. Then back you go, back and forth, back and forth, all day long. D’you think that would be fun?”
    â€œI know I’d like it,” insisted Willie.
    That night they walked home together. Willie learned that Ned boarded at a house on Monkey Row. Ned was unmarried and had come from Newfoundland three years before.
    All that week, Willie worked with Ned, driving back and forth, getting to know all the hazards of driving, and all the duties of a driver.
    The weekend came, and after church Nellie and Willie walked two kilometres to the hospital to see their father. He was thin and pale and bearded. One leg was attached to a pulley which raised his leg from the bed.
    He smiled at his children. “So now you’re the man of the house, Willie,” he said.
    Willie smiled at him shyly. “Yes, Papa. I’ll get my pay at the end of the month. Hallowe’en night,” he said.
    â€œGood boy. I can remember when I got my first bobtail sheet,” said his father. He tried to change his position, and winced with pain.
    â€œI’m goin’ to try out as a driver soon,” said Willie. He couldn’t keep the hope out of his voice. “Maybe I’ll get a raise!” But he thought he’d better not mention that, if he got the job, he would be driving Gem, a Sable Island horse.
    â€œA driver!” His father was surprised. “Maybe all that time