"Afraid of Two Tails—what nonsense!" And the bullocks went on: "We are sorry that you heard, but it is true. Two Tails, why are you afraid of the guns when they fire?"
"Well," said Two Tails, rubbing one hind leg against the other, exactly like a little boy saying a piece, "I don't quite know whether you 'd understand."
"We don't, but we have to pull the guns," said the bullocks.
"I know it, and I know you are a good deal braver than you think you are. But it 's different with me. My battery captain called me a Pachydermatous Anachronism the other day."
"That 's another way of fighting, I suppose?" said Billy, who was recovering his spirits.
"You don't know what that means, of course, but I do. It means betwixt and between, and that is just where I am. I can see inside my head what will happen when a shell bursts; and you bullocks can't."
"I can," said the troop-horse. "At least a little bit. I try not to think about it."
"I can see more than you, and I do think about it. I know there 's a great deal of me to take care of, and I know that nobody knows how to cure me when I 'm sick. All they can do is to
