The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1861-03-08
MORNING, MARCH s, 1861.

n but open them now he did. and that with a
vengeance ho paved and struck tho wall'
I, with his forefeet, till the fire flashed from
the stones, and then he reared till he fell
right back upon the pavement. was pre-
pared for this, and slipped of him as he went
down, and then lcaped upon him again as he
rose. lhad yet nor touched him with whip,
bride, or spur but now gave him the curb
and the spurs at the same instant. lie gave
one mad bound and then went at rate that
! completely ecliIsed the speed Of the aeetest
horse had ever ridden. lie could not trot
but his gallop was unapproachable, and con.
sisted in succession of leaps, performing
with precision, velocity, and strength ab-
solutely bewildcring.
lie fairly overturned oil my preconceived
notions of fast horse. On he thundered
: till he came under the shadow of n iirewoOd
and then, whether out of mischief or dread
Of the darkness, he halted instantaneously,
his forefeet 30 close together that yOu might
have put them into basket. Owing to the
depression of his shoulders-for he had no
more withcrs than an ass-thc way that he
jerkcd down his head. and the suddcness Of
the stop, q monkey, although he had been
holding on with his teeth, must have been
unscated. For me, was pitched long way
over his head, but alighted upon n spot 81
soft and messy that it looked as ifsome kind
hand had purposely prepared 1t for me.
Had been in the slightest degree stunned, or
unable to regain my feet, that instant he
would have torn me to peices with his teeth,
and beaten my mangled body to the earth
with his hOOis. But ut once spnng to my
leaping into the woods but my blood was
up, and my brain clear, and my heart gave
not one extra pulsation. There he stood
upon his hind.legs nearly upright, beating
the mir with his fore feet, his mouth open,
his upper lip curled, his under one drawn
down, his large teeth glancing like ivory in
the moonlight. AS soon as he saw mo on
my feet. he gave yell such us had never
heard from horse before, save once, and
which believe is never eicted from that ami
NAL, except when under domination of
frantic rage or fear.
This unearthly cry reused everything with
in hearing. An army OF rocks, startled
from their cncampment in the wood, circled
and wheeled between us and the moon, shad-
ing her light, and filling the air with dis
curdant screams This attracted the atten-
ton of Satan, and bringing his forc.feet to
the ground, he pricked his ears and listened.
| sprang forward, seized him by the name,
and vaultcd upon his back. As | stopped
forward to gather up the rcins, which were
dangling from his head, he ,aughtme by the
cuff of the .iacket-luckily it was by the cuff
and tore up to the shoulder. Instantly he
seized me again. but this time he succeeded
little better. having u small piece OF tho
flesh of my thigh between his teeth. The I'M
tense pain occasioned by the bite, or rather
bruisc of horse can only bo properly
Judged of by those who have ieltit. was
the matldcr of the two now, and OF oil ami
mails, an enragcd man is the most dangerous
and the most fearless. gave him n blow
between the cars with tho end OF the whip
and he went down at once, stunned and
scnselcss. with his legs doubled up under him
and his nose buried in the ground. drew
his lore-lcgs from under him, that he might
rise the more readily, and then lashcd him
into life. lIeturned his head slowly round
and looked ut me, and then saw that the
savage glare of his eye was nearly quenchcd
and that, il could follow up the advantage
| had gained, should ultimately be the
cOnqucrer. now asked him to rise, mount
ed him and struck him at once with and
spur. IIo gave few bounds forwards a
stagger or two, and then fell heavily on his
side. was nearly under him however |
did save my distance. although that wasall.
| began to feel sorry for him his wonder
speed had won my respect : aud rs was far
from being naturally cruel, whip or spur
never used except in cases OF necessity; 80 |
thorght would allow HIM to lie for few
minutes. il he did not incline to get up him
SELF However as had no faith in the
creature. | sat down upon him, and watched
him intcntly. lie lay motionless with his
eyes shut; and had it not been for the firm
fast beat OF his heart, should have consider
ed diving from the effects of the blow but
the strong pulsation told me that there was
plenty Of life in him; and suspected that
hc was lying quiet, meditating mischief.
| was right. Every muscle began presently
to quiyer with suppressed rage. He opened
his eyes and gave mca look in which fear
and fury were stransly blended. am not
without superstition, an instant | qualled
under that look, us the thought struck me
that the black. unshapely brute before me
might actually be the spirit indicated by his
name. with muttering growl ut my folly, |
threw the idea from mc-lcaped up-sezcd
the rcins with lash and cry that made him
spring to his ieet-mountcd Us hc rose aud
struck the spur into his side. He reared and
wheeled; but finding that he could not get
rid Of me and beingNnable to ss,nd the cx-
trcme tortue Of the spurs which used freely
(it was no time for Inercy) he gave two or
three plunses and then bounded awayat that
drcadfully l.aping gallop-that pace which
seemed peculiarly his own, l tried to mod
crate his pace with the bride but found to
my surprise, that had no command over him
| knew at once that something was wrong,
as. with the bit had in his mouth, ought
10 have had the power to have broken the
inw.bone. | stopped forward to ascertain
the cause the loose curb dangling at the
side of his head gave satisfactory explana-
ton.
lie had IL all his own way now he was
fairly of with me and all | could do was to
bear his head as well ms could, to prevent
his stumbling. However, as 1t would have
been bad policy to let him know how much
he was master, | gave him an occasional
touch with the spur. MS il wishing him to ac-
celeratc his pace and when he made an cx.
tra bound patted him on his neck as II
pleased with his performance.
A watery cloud was passing over the moon
which rendered everything dim and indis-
tinct, ms we tore away down grassy slope;
the view terminated in q grove OF tall trees,
situated on rising ground. Beyond the dark
outline of the trees, saw nothing.
As we neared the grove. Satan Stacked his
pacc this thought he did with n view
10 crush me against the trees. flung my