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grass, her tail twitching occasionally to drive away the flies, oblivious to the boys around her. With much effort, Alphy tried to mount Bessy. After several attempts, he finally made it. Then Bessy ‘cut loose’, as soon as she felt his weight on her. The cow sped out, as if struck by lightning. She didn’t stop running until she came to the end of the rope. The rope ‘fetched up’, but Alphy didn’t! With a quick jolt Bessy came to a stop, and Alphy flew in the air, landing amongst the chickens. He was covered in dirt and feathers when he got up. He quickly looked around to see if anyone else had seen him fall. There was no one but Edmond.

Edmond had a large grin on his face and commented, “ Silly, no one rides a cow.”

Alphy limped behind the house. The only thing he really hurt was his pride. He would have to clean up before facing his father.

When Alphy went in, he didn’t have to tell his father what happened- Edmond already had. Upon hearing about Alphy’s episode with Bessy, Henri explained the danger of this folly, and warned the children never to go around livestock unless accompanied by an adult. He also advised them that they were lucky they hadn’t spooked Prince, the horse, as he was a lot more aggressive than Bessy.

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