The man was downcast when he heard this; but he left his little gray pony in the blacksmith’s care, while he hurried here and there to buy the coal.

First of all he went to the store; and when he got there, he said:—­

“Storekeeper!  Storekeeper!  I’ve come to you; My little gray pony has lost a shoe!  And I want some coal the iron to heat, That the blacksmith may shoe my pony’s feet.”

But the storekeeper answered and said:—­

“Now, I have apples and candy to sell, And more nice things than I can tell; But I’ve no coal the iron to heat, That the blacksmith may shoe your pony’s feet.”

Then the man went away sighing, and saying:—­

    “What shall I do?  What shall I do? 
    My little gray pony has lost a shoe!"

By and by he met a farmer coming to town with a wagon full of good things; and he said:—­

“Farmer!  Farmer!  I’ve come to you; My little gray pony has lost a shoe!  And I want some coal the iron to heat, That the blacksmith may shoe my pony’s feet.”

Then the farmer answered the man and said:—­

“I’ve bushels of corn and hay and wheat Something for you and your pony to eat; But I’ve no coal the iron to heat, That the blacksmith may shoe your pony’s feet.”

So the farmer drove away and left the man standing in the road, sighing and saying:—­

    “What shall I do?  What shall I do? 
    My little gray pony has lost a shoe!”

In the farmer’s wagon, full of good things, he saw corn, which made him think of the mill; so he hastened there, and called to the dusty miller:—­

“Miller!  Miller!  I’ve come to you; My little gray pony has lost a shoe, And I want some coal the iron to heat, That the blacksmith may shoe my pony’s feet.”

The miller came to the door in surprise; and when he heard what was needed, he said:—­

“I have wheels that go round and round, And stones to turn till the grain is ground, But I’ve no coal the iron to heat, That the blacksmith may shoe your pony’s feet.”

[Illustration:  When she came near the man she stopped to ask him his trouble.]

Then the man turned away sorrowfully and sat down on a rock near the roadside, sighing and saying:—­

    “What shall I do?  What shall I do? 
    My little gray pony has lost a shoe!”

After a while a very old woman came down the road, driving a flock of geese to market; and when she came near the man, she stopped to ask him his trouble.  He told her all about it; and when she had heard it all, she laughed till her geese joined in with a cackle; and she said:—­

    “If you would know where the coal is found,
    You must go to the miner, who works in the ground.”

Then the man sprang to his feet, and, thanking the old woman, he ran to the miner.  Now the miner had been working many a long day down in the mine, under the ground, where it was so dark that he had to wear a lamp on the front of his cap to light him at his work!  He had plenty of black coal ready and gave great lumps of it to the man, who took them in haste to the blacksmith.