he Baron's Missing Horses

aron Von Lodge was the head of a small country known as Lilliland near Switzerland. The time was the early 1900s.

The Baron was very fond of this fine stable of 40 horses. Many of them were gifts from visiting dignitaries.

One morning the Baron looked out of his bedroom window and saw many of his horses grazing in the flowerbeds. It seem that one of the stable hands left the gates open and all of the horses got loose and were wandering toward the mountains.

The Baron called the castle security and a search was begun. The Baron's favorite horse, Ridgeway, and Lady Angela's horse, Daisy, were in the castle yard and had not wandered very far.

A few hours later all the horses were found and returned to their stalls. But after a careful count, the Baron discovered he had 42 horses. Two of the horses rounded up were young ponies that did not belong to the Baron.

The Baron quickly sent out an apology to the people of Lilliland and asked the owner to come forward to have his ponies returned. The Baron was very sorry about the incident.

It seemed that the ponies belonged to the children of Farmer Brooke. John and Greta Brooke were the rightful owners. The children, aged nine and eleven, had received the ponies as gifts from their father. The Brooke farm had fallen on hard times and the food for the ponies was more than they could afford.

The Baron met with the children, John and Greta. The Baron said that the two ponies could stay in the castle stable and that the children could visit them any time. The ponies would be fed free-of-charge until the family situation got better. Both John and Greta were very pleased with this arrangement. Farmer Brooke thanked the Baron and accepted the kind offer.

Everyone, including the ponies, was very happy.