ONIES FOR A KING
By
Fable-like overtones dominate this story set in old England during the reign of the imaginary King Carodec. Commissioned to raise prize horses for His Majesty, two feuding houses -- the Morgans and the Kerns -- compete for first prize. Young Lynn Morgan (a male) is given the responsibility of tending the herd for an entire summer in the isolated glen outside the Vale of Avalon. At the same time Owen Kern has been instructed to care for his herd. Both boys are strongly warned against fraternizing. The crisis of a thunder storm and a runaway herd overcome the petty obstacles of family prejudices and the boys save the entire herd by their united efforts. Fittingly the best ponies from each herd are awarded the King's prize. A short story with a predictable plot nevertheless offers the reader a colorful picture of pastoral life in olden times. A story of the origin of the Morgan horse that stems far back of Marguerite Henry's popular Justin Morgan Had a Horse.