Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-01-30

/
fine points that so much excited my ad-
miration as the intelligent manner with
which he observed all my movements.
He even seemed to be interested in what
I said He inclined his head toward me,
in order, apparently, to hear better; and,
when had done speaking, he uttered
a low whinny. seemingly in re-
Spouse. looked at the other
horses hastily. They were ordinary
animals, without any thing to distinguish
them from thousands of others. Not SO
with Brutus. He certainly differed widely
from the vulgar herd, and l was impa-
tient to make little tour through my
park in his company. He allowed HIM
self to be saddled, bridled, and mounted,
| like horse that knows his business; and
we set out in the best possible humor with
each other.
Cheri's catalogue had only told the
truth Brutus was exceedingly well bro
ken; indeed he was too well broken for
my purposes. He would give me slow
trot or gallon at call, bnt would continu-
ally strike tAe ground with his fore feet
| in a peculiar manner; and, when l tried
| to make him raise his head, which he
carried very low, he would nearly tear
nv arm off. Finally, he took to prancing
| in grand style, like show horse in an
arena.
Humph!" said l to myself; 81 have
here-or | am greatly in error-an old
stager from riding school of Saumur or
| ST. Cyr. He will have to be gotten out of
some of his fancy PAGES before he will do
for the chase"
/ was about to return home, having
sufficiently satisfied my curiosity with re-
gard to Brutus's accomplishments, when
heard the report of gun, discharged
| apparently within twenty yards of me.
hare, and who subsequently received a
wife.
! was at the moment exactly in the
centre of an open space formed by
the junction of six long, shaded alleys
When Brutus heard the report of the
gun, he stopped short, planted his feet
firmly in the sand, pricked up his
ears, and raised his head high in the air
l was surprised to see him so disturbed
by the report of fire arms. / would have
supposed that, after the liberal education
he had received in his youth, no amount
of firing would have even excited his cur
iosity l touched his TANKS with my
heels, in order to urge him forward; but
Brutus refused to bulge. l tried to turn
him to the right, to the left; not foo
wonld he move. He stood like statue
and, nevertheless-you need not laugh
for, be assured, what | am telling you il
strictly true and, nevertheless, at every
effort made to induce him to go on, he
would turn his head and glance at me
with an expression of impaIience and sur
prise; then he would relapse into hi:
statue-like immobility. There was clearly
some misunderstanding between us, for
read very distinctly in his chances that he
would say: 81, the horse, but do my
duty. and you, the cavalier, do not dc
yours"
was more puzzled than angered.
"What manner of beast is this that
have bought of Cheri?" said | to myself
"And why does he look at me in thi:
| queer way?"
was on the point of having recourse
to extreme measures-that is, to admins
ter shower of well-laid-on blows with
my riding whip when we heard another
shot-Brutus and lat which he 1nade
one bound, and only one. All my endeav
ors to induce him to go on were fruitless
Ie planted his feet anew in the sand, anC
more firmly, if possible, than at first.
began now to get Out of patience, and, as
a consequence, to ply my whip; bu
u,
submitting tamely to the punishment
inflicted, he reared, and pitched anG
kicked in the most furious manner imag
Unable. But while the battle was at its
height, and I was dealing him heavy
blows with the loaded handle Of my whir
he found time to give me look, now anC
then, full, not only of indignation, but OF
surprise. 1t was plain that, while | de
handed of the horse what he refused, hi
expected something from me that die
not do.
And how, think you, did this end To
my shame-my great shame. | was ig
ANONYMOUSLY unhorsed-thrown! Bru
tus, it seemed, came to the conclusion
that nothing was to be effected by vic
lence, and that he must change his tao
tics. After moments pause, which was
certainly moment of reflection, he stood
straight up in the air, not on his hind, bu
on his forefeet, and that, too, with a:
much calmness and address as a Glowr
walks on his hands. OF course l sliC
down over his head into the sand, which
| fortunately, was tolerably deep.
l tried to rise, but one of my legs re
fused me service; uttered cry of pain
and fell forward fat upon the sand.
had ruptured one of the smaller tendons
of my right leg, which, although not a
very serious matter, caused me great
pain whenever l attempted to stir. New
ertheless | succeeded in turning over anC
sitting up, but at the moment when / be
gan to rub my eyes, which were full OF
sand, and to wonder what had become OF
my rascally dapple- gray, saw horses
foot descend 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.
Twas now, and very naturally, too, ]
think, exceedingly frightened, and, more,
| felt that it would be useless to make
any further effort; therefore remained
quietly on my back, asking myself, once
more, what manner of beast this was tina,
l had bought from Cheri; at the same
time [ closed my eyes and awaited death,
for expected to be killed. But, instead
of receiving my coup de grace, suddenly
heard strange stamping in the sand,
and, at the same time, quantity of dirt
and gravel stones struck me in the face.
| opened my eyes, and, 10 there was
Brutus, using all four feet with wonder
full address, endeavoring to cover me up
in the sand. He was doing his best, the
dear fellow, and every now and then he
would pause to see what progress he was
making then he would raise his head
| give expression to his self satisfaction in
a low whinny, and resume his work.
| This continued four or five minutes,
when, thinking me, doubtless, sufficiently
| covered ha approa cha5 recpaotf,,11xy opd