St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-02-14


his curiosity. touched his hanks. in
order To urge him forward but Brutu>
refused to move. He stood like Il
statue: and, nevertheless You need
hot laugh, for, be assured, what | am
telling You now is strictly true-and.
nevertheless. ut every effort | would
make to induce him to go, he would
turn his head and glance at me with an
expression of impatience and surprise
he would then relapse into his statue
like immohility. There WAS clearly
some misunderstanding between lis. for
| read very distinctly in his glance that
he would say, Il, the horse, do but my
duty. and Nyou. the cavalier, do not do
yours.
WAS more puzzled than angered.
Nv hat manner of beast is this thai
have bought of Cheri - said | to my
self. And why does he look at me in
this queer way -
| was on the point of having resource
to extreme measures that is, to adj
nfifsister~u sh0ue,zsf Nre4f-4artetr-t,iuws-
with my riding whip-whcn we heard
another shot Brutus and I-at which
he made one bound. and only one. All
my cndcavors IL make him go ON. were
truitlcSS. He planted his feet anew in
| the sand, and more firmly, if possible.
! than before. began to get out of pa
/ tience. and, aS Il consequence. to ply
my whip. But Brutus also lost patience.
and instead of submitting tamely to the
punishment | inflicted. he reared and
pitched and kicked in the most furious
manner Imaginable. But while the
battle was ut its height. and WAS
dealing him heavy blows with the
loaded handle of my whip. he found
time To give me look. now and then.
full, not only of dignation. but of sur
prise. 1t was plain that. while | de
mandcd of the horse what he refused.
he expected something of me that | did
not do.
And how, think you. did this end
To my shame my great shame. WAS
ignominiouSly unhorScd thrown Bru-
tuS. ii seemed. came to the conclusion
that nothing WAS to hc effected 10y Vio- |
lcurc. and that he must change his
tactics.
After moments pause. which was
certainly Il moment of reflection. he
stood straight i'll the air. not on hind /.
but his tnrc-fcct. and that. too. with a>
much ralmnc>> and address aS Il clown 7.
walks "m his hands. OF course. | slid /
down over his head into The sand. which. .
fortunately. WAS tolerably deep.
tried to rise. but one of my legs re-
fused to do me service uttered ii cry .
of pain and fell forward fiat in the sand |
had rIIpturrd one of the smallest ten
d"n> of my right leg. w:,ich. though no
serious matter. caused me great pain .
when attempted to stir. However. /
succeeded i'll turning over and sitting
up. but ut the moment when | began
To rub my eyes. which were full of
sand. and to wonder what had her"mc
of my ra>cally dapplc- gray. | SAW IL
horses foot desc, nd on my head. then
the foot WAS placed gently against my
breast. and | WAS stretched out again
on the sand: this time on my back.
WaS now exceedingly frightened.
and more. felt that it would he useless
To make any further effort. | therefore
remained quietly on my back. asking
myself. once more. what manner of
beast Wa> that had bought from Chcri
II the same time | closed my ewes and
awaited death. for expected to he
killed. But, instead of receiving my
c0Hp de grUcc. | suddenly heard strange
stamping i'll the sand. and, ut the same
time. Il quantity of dirt and gravel
stones struck me III the face. ! opened
my eyes. and 10, there was BrutuS.
using all four feet with wonderful ad-
dress. cndeavoIing to cover me with
sand. He WAS doing his best. the dear
fellow. and every now and then he
would pause To SEE what progress he
WIS making: then he would raise his
head. give expression To his Scf-Sat>-
tarIi"n i'll Il low whinny. and resume
his work. This continued four or five
minutes. when. thinking me. doubtless.
sufficiently covered. he approached re-
Spcctlully and knclt got down on both
knees. and seemed actually to he utter
imS Il PRAYER while | looked ON in
wonder and amazcmcnt.
His PRAYER being finished. Brutu>
bowed lis head slightly. rose. walked
away Il few steps. stopped. looked ut
me. and then began To gallop round the
the open space in the centre of which
WAS lying. This he did some twenty
times round round l. round r. until
began 20 I've dizzy from watching him.
when | cried out, ''lIalt halt :" He
ohcyed, but seemed embarrassed what
to do next.
At this moment he noticed my hat.
which had fallen off when WAS dumped
50 rmrcr"momiouSly into the sand, and
lay IL few feet from me. Al sight of il
BriiuS seemed to he relieved from his
embarrassment. He Immediately went
toward ii. picked it up with his teeth.
and started of at Il brisk gallnp down
one "t the six alleys that | have men
toned
BrUtnS disappeared, and | remained
alone. Never was man more puzzled
-confoundcd What the strange con-
duet of the horse meant was more than
| could divine. | shook off the sand
that partially covered me, and crawlcd
on my hands to Il little spot of grass at
the corner of one of the ALLEYS. Ar {
rived there. made myself us comforta- ,
hle as possible. and then cried ont at
the top of my voice, in the hope of be
ing heard by some one: but | got no
response. The park, at least where
was. seemed to be entirely deserted. I
There was only one thing to do-to
wait till some one came that way.
had been il full halt-hour iii this !
position, when espied
Brutus, il long distance off. at the end
If the alley hy which he had disap-
peared, galloping toward me in il big ,
loud of dust. Little 10y little. as he {
anne nearer. discovered pony-chaise
n the cloud; then, i'll the claise, !
woman. who was driving herself. and |
behind the lady Il little groom. ,
y few minutes after making this wei !;
'Ome discovery, Brutus, covered with |
oam. stopped before me and let my t