HURRY PLEASE When Ray Sutcliffe left us, I said to my daddy, "You didn't ask me if I wanted to ride that man's horse."

"No, I didn't."

"Well, why not? Maybe I wanted to ride for him."

"Well, if you did or you didn't, I know better about these things," said my daddy. "Some of these horses around here aren't half trained, some of them are skittish, and some of them are just plain mean. Now, I've seen some of that man's horses, and maybe you could ride that grey he was talking about if there were training time, but not just on a first ride. Not all folks train their horses same as we do, and you riding a stranger's horse is just asking for trouble. You could get thrown, you could get run over; in either case possibly get yourself seriously hurt. No, I'm not about to let you ride any horses except the ones we brought here."

—The Land,
Mildred D. Taylor

What do readers learn about Paul’s father from indirect characterization in this passage?

He acts cruelly toward his son.
He believes he knows best.
He is easily influenced by others.
He is not sure of his son’s abilities.