Free The Horse Tamer by Walter Farley

take your time.” He paused, glanced toward the exit Bill Dailey had used, then cleared his throat and continued, “But for those of you who are interested in not returning to your unruly horses empty-handed, I have a few bottles of a taming medicine never before made available in this area. It’s called Arabian Secret. All that’s necessary for you to do, gentlemen, is to rub a little on your hands before approaching the animal …”
    There were hoots of derision from many in thecrowd but there were others who looked on interestedly. Someone shouted, “How much?”
    “Only ten dollars, sir. A special price, if I may say so, due to the Professor’s inability to perform. The usual price after one of our exhibitions is fifty dollars, but today we are reducing it to only ten. Step right this way, sir.… ”

H UMBUG !

9
    “I’ve no place in my work for a medicine man,” Bill Dailey told Finn the next day. He lay on a cot in a far corner of the livery stable. Finn Caspersen sat in a chair beside him.
    “Just because I sold a few bottles of Arabian Secret doesn’t make me a medicine man or turn this into a medicine show,” Finn insisted.
    Hank, who was sitting at the foot of his brother’s bed, said, “It wasn’t a few bottles. I told Bill how many you sold. It was close to a hundred.”
    The big man turned to the boy, his eyes glowering.
    “You stay out of this,” Bill warned his brother.
    Finn Caspersen got to his feet. “It’s still only a
few
bottles compared to what I could’ve sold if I’d had more ready. If there were five hundred people in the building, there were another five hundred waiting outside.” He grinned recklessly. “What are we arguing about anyway, Bill? At ten dollars a bottle we made more money than if you’d worked!”
    Finn paused as if undecided whether to go on or not. His eyes found Bill’s and he mistook what he saw there for indecision. Grabbing his chair, he moved it closer to the cot and sat down again. “Maybe this is the time I always said would come. Maybe it’s time you listened to me for a change. I’ve put up with your high-minded ideas long enough.”
    From the bedside table he picked up the bottle of medicine which had been purchased at the drug store for Bill’s upset stomach. “Do you think this is any better than what I sold today? No! It’s a
cure-all
, a sure cure for everything and
nothing
. I’ve sold gallons of it in my day an’ I’ll be selling gallons more before I’m finished.” Again he grinned. “Oh, this medicine isn’t going to hurt you, Bill. Maybe it’ll even soothe your upset stomach some. It’ll help you about as much as our Arabian Secret soothes upset horses. So what’s the difference if I sell one or the other?”
    Bill Dailey sat up in bed but he didn’t look at Finn. “You wouldn’t stop even there,” he said quietly. “I can see that now. It’s not in you to stop. In addition to taming medicines, you’d soon be selling
cure-alls
for every injury and ailment horses have.”
    “But why not, Bill?” the big man asked seriously. “I’m sure you’re as good a horse doctor as the next man, and better than most. There are close to twenty-seven million horses and mules in this country. Most people are treating their sick animals just the way their fathers told them. They’d listen to you just as well as to anyone else and they’d buy whatever you had to sell them!”
    Bill refused to meet Finn’s searching eyes. He knew the big man was right. Not much more was known about the care of sick horses than in ancient times, and barbarous methods of treatment were being used—hot and cold drenches, bleeding, turpentine and carbolic acid. Someday people would take more of an interest in veterinary work and the weird cupping machines and witch-doctor practices would be no more. The day might not be too far off, either; two private veterinary schools had opened in the East and another was being established in