noon
A Shetland pony was produced instead . I remembered my Natural History , I recalled popular report , and I got on the little beast 's back , as any other man would have done in my position , placing implicit confidence in the sureness of his feet . And how did he repay that confidence ? Brother Francis , carry your mind on from morning to noon . Picture to yourself a howling wilderness of grass and bog , bounded by low stony hills . Pick out one particular spot in that imaginary scene , and sketch me in it , with outstretched arms , curved back , and heels in the air , plunging headforemost into a black patch of water and mud . Place just behind me the legs , the body , and the head of a sure-footed Shetland pony , all stretched flat on the ground , and you will have produced an accurate representation of a very lamentable fact .