Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1873-03-06

"Wosl done, my lau L nave seen
boys that were afraid of woodchucks
Toss him into the ravine: he is good
for nothing" said the man of the rifle
Then be looked round, and, bowling
to my father, told him that as he was
fond of shooting he had undertaken t.
to rid the farms around him of the ami
mails that gave their owners so much
trouble. cit is hard upon the wood
chucks," he added, shut kind to the
farmers" This was apparently said t
defend himself from the suspicion O
being engaged in cruel and wantoI
sport.
AT the sound of his voice, the tired
and reeking horse that my father
drove whinnied, then started on, and
coming to the back of the other car.
riage. placed his nose close to the gen
tleman's shoulder. The lady looked
round and smiled, while the mar
placed his hand caressingly upon the
animals head. 'Animals are all very
fond of me-" said he. "I don't under.
stand it: suppose they do"
There was something exceedingly
winning and hearty in the gentleman'>
voice, and / did not wonder that all
the animals liked him.
Scan you tell me-" inquired my
father, "where The Birds Nest is 90
"Oh, yes, Pm going there. Indeed,
Pm the old Bird himself"
'Tut! who takes care of the nest ?''
said the lady with a smile.
"And this is the Mother Bird-Mrs.
Bird" ,"said the gentleman.
Mrs. Bird bowed to US both, and,
beekoning to me, pointed to her side.
1t was an Invitation to leave my faith
er, and take seat with her. The little
dog who had been helped into his mas
ter's wagon, saw me coming, and
mounted into his lap, determined that
he would shut that place from the in
truder. l accepted the invitation, and,
with the lady's arm round me, we
started on. -...
''Now 1 am going to guess" said
Mr.. Bird. 81 guess your name is
Arthur Bonnicastle, that the man be-
hind us is your father, that you are
coming to The Birds Nest to live, that
you are intending to be good boy,
and that you are going to to very
dYou've guessed right the first
time," 1 responded laughing.
"And I can always guess when a
boy has done right and when he has
done wrong" said Mr.. Bird. There's
a little spot in his eye-ah, yes! you
have it!-that tells the whole story,
and he looked down pleasantly into my
face.
AT this moment one of his horses
discovered young calf by the road
side, and throwing back his ears, gave
performance. The horse, in genuine
frolic, dragged his less playful mate
and the wagon through the gutter and
over rocks for many rods, entirely un-
restrained by his driver until the
scared object of the chase slipped be-
tween two bars at the roadside, and
ran wildly off into the field. At this
the horse shook his head in a comicaE
way and went quietly back into the
road,
"That horse is laughing all over"
said Mr.. Bird. 'He thinks it was an
excellent joke. l presume he will
think of it, and laugh again when he
gets at his OATS"
''Do you really think that horses
laugh, Mr.. Bird ?" enquired.
"Laugh? Bless you, yes," he re-
piled. "Ali animals laugh when they
are pleased" "Gyp''- and he turned
his eyes upon the little dog in his lap
-"are you happy?"
Gyp looked up into his masters face,
and wagged his tail.
"Don't you see yes in his eye, and
a smile in the wag of his tail@' said
Mr.. Bird. eff / had asked YOU the
same question you would have answer
ed with your tongue, and smiled with
your mouth. That's all the difference.
These creatures understand us a great
deal better than we understand them.
Why l never drive these horses when
1 am finely dressed for fear they will
he ashamed of their old harnesses"
Then turning to the little dog again,
he said. "Gyp, get down." Gyp inn
jumped down, and curled up
at his feet. "Gyp, come up here,'
said he, and Gyp mounted quickly to
his old seat. "Don't you see that this
door understands thu Epulich Inn