This is Fate . None the less , Two Tails is a great coward . That is the proper way to fight . We are brothers from Hapur . Our father was a sacred bull of Shiva . We have spoken . '' `` Well , I 've certainly learned something tonight , '' said the troop-horse . `` Do you gentlemen of the screw-gun battery feel inclined to eat when you are being fired at with big guns , and Two Tails is behind you ? '' `` About as much as we feel inclined to sit down and let men sprawl all over us , or run into people with knives . I never heard such stuff . A mountain ledge , a well-balanced load , a driver you can trust to let you pick your own way , and I 'm your mule . But -- the other things -- no ! '' said Billy , with a stamp of his foot . `` Of course , '' said the troop horse , `` everyone is not made in the same way , and I can quite see that your family , on your father 's side , would fail to understand a great many things . '' `` Never you mind my family on my father 's side , '' said Billy angrily , for every mule hates to be reminded that his father was a donkey . `` My father was a Southern gentleman , and he could pull down and bite and kick into rags every horse he came across . Remember that , you big brown Brumby ! '' Brumby means wild horse without any breeding . Imagine the feelings of Sunol if a car-horse called her a `` skate , '' and you can imagine how the Australian horse felt . I saw the white of his eye glitter in the dark .
`` See here , you son of an imported Malaga jackass , '' he said between his teeth , `` I 'd have you know that I 'm related XXXXX my mother 's side to Carbine , winner of the Melbourne Cup , and where I come from we are n't accustomed to being ridden over roughshod by any parrot-mouthed , pig-headed mule in a pop-gun pea-shooter battery .
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