Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-01-29


himself to the contents. Unfortunately
for Toby, Mrs. had spread mustard
on her ham sandwiches, and the sEeeziDg
and coughing of the erring horse first
called her attention to his presence and
the absence of her lunch basket.
Not long after, we made camp yery
early in the day, and the Majors folks
came to fill a long standing promise to
take tea with us, and spend the evening at
our tent. The visit passed off very
pleasantly, and an engagement was made
to return it at an early day. Toby, who
was prowling about the tent, no doubt
overheard the conversation, and felt it in
cumbent on him to fill the engagement as
soon as possible. Consequently, he sta
TONED himself near the Majors tent-fy
the very next morning., and paid close at
tentlon- to the preparations going on for
tea; and just as the cook had put the
finishing touch to the table, and had step
ped back to call the family and set the
tea and the meats on the table, Toby
grsvely walked up, swallowed the butter
with one gulp, upset the sugar-bowl, COB
bled up the contents, and proceeded leis-
urely TO investigate the inside of q tin
jelly-can. The soldiers, who had watched
bis man9uyres from distance, had been
too much charmed with the performance
to give warning to the cook; but when
he made his appearance, meat-dish and
teapot in hand, they gave such shout
as set the whole camp in an uprosr, and
Toby was fairly worshiped by the soldiers
from that day out.
EQUINE PATIENCE AND GENEROSITY.
But the faithfulness and patience of the
horse, in time of need, made me forgive
him all these tricks. Months later-when
still on the march, in the most desolats
wilderness, in the midst of the painless
mountains, when other horses "gave up
the ghost, and were shot at the rate of
dozen day-Toby held out, carrying me
on his back, day after day, night after
night, till his knees trembled with fatigue
and faintness, and he turned his head and
took my foot between his teeth, at last,
to tell me he could carry me no furtherI
Not once, but a dozen times, has he re-
peated this maneuYer; once, too, when
we were coming down a very steep hill,
he planted his fore-feet down firmly,
turned his head, and softly bit the foot |
held in the stirrup, to tell me that must
dismount.
The most singular devotion of one horse
to another, I witnessed while out in New
Mexico The captain found it necessary
to draw q saddle horse for his own use.
and selected one from a number which
the volunteers had left behind. 1t had
been half-starved lstterly, and was VIC
ious more from ill-treatment than by ma
ture. The first evening when it was
brought to our stable, it kicked the or
derby SO that he could not attend to the
horses next morning, and the cook had to
look after them. went into the stable
to bring Toby, tit-bit of some kind, and
here found that Copp (the new horse)
was deliberately eating the feed out
of Toby's trough. The cook called
my attention to it, and explained
that the horse had done the same
thing last night; and on interfering, the
orderly had been Viciously kicked by the
animal l reached over to stroke the
creatures name, but he called me to stop,
holding up his arm to show where the
horse had bitten him. / went quickly
back into the tent, got large piece of
bread, and held it out to Copp. In an
instant he had swallowed it, and had
fallen back on Toby's feed again, without
meeting with the least opposition from
that side. Toby evidently had better
sense, and more charity, than the men
had shown; he knew that the horse was
half starved, and wicked only from
hunger.
If l Lad never believed before that
horses were capable of reasoning, and re-
membering kind actions, Cops behavior
toward Toby would have converted me.