Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1881-04-08
AUNT LERUSHA,s RACE.

a CA 4 JEHCSH1 - IA
Aunt Jerusha, farmers wife, sat in the
kitchen by the open door, whence she
could look field, where her husband, Dea.
con Spriggins, was planting corn. She was
a matron of fifty years, had been both hard.
working woman aud great helpmeet to the
deacon and now they were living in compe-
tency, the result of their united and well-di-
rected efforts. The house was roomy and
comfortable-that was all, and that's enough
but everything was so homelike and attrac-
tive to the eye as TO invite one TO stop and
visit awhile Aunt Jerusha was tall, well.
formed and rather sharp featured but large
blue eyes, that beamed with beneyolence and
kindliness offset the hard lines of her face.
The deacon was seen approaching the house.
He entered the kitchen.
II must have some more Of that new seed
corn from town yet ] can hardly spare the
time to go myself"
~ will go for you, said the wife quietly.
/ "Yes, but there is nothing to drive but The
Colt"
"Well l can drive him."
81 know you can but no one has ever
drawn line over him but myself" (After
a pause.) 'In let you drive him, Jerusha,
and you may get ready to go to town"
Aunt Jerusha's eyes glittered with strange
expression, the color deepened on her cheek,
and her hand trembled as she laid aside her
work and arose from her chair.
"You remember, deacon" she said TO him
very kindly, as she laid her hand on the
broad shoulder of her husband, "what a good
horsewoman / used to be 2"
eyes, and the first time ever saw you
you were riding horse bareback and l re-
member that thought you handled your
horse with great skill" And the deacon
lauuhaI aiunsGnaptIx-
natural courage that pleased me so much.
Now get ready and will harness The Colt"
Tho Colt as they termed him, was a bay
stallion of about dozen years. He was a
foal of the noted mare Dolly Spriggins, who
although never on track, and always driv-
en- by Deacon Spriggins to heavy country
wagon, had wide reputation for speed and
endurance. In fact, she was an untiring
roadster and had never been beaten. Her
first foal was q flly called Pearl, but better
known as Aunt Jerusha's flly. She, also,
had never been beaten aud The Colt worthi-
ly sustained the reputation Of the family As
the deacon leads him, or rather as he follows
his owner from barn TO house, we will de-
scribe him. He is rich dark bay, black
points, no white, l52 hands, weighing about
1850 pounds. He is very stoutly proper
toned, and there is not a weak spot about
him. He moves with a quick, nervous,
springy walk. His head, which might be
considered by some TO be too large, indicates
force and character. There is great width
and fulness between the eyes, strong jowls,
large nostrils long, fine ears, which are con-
stantly in motion, and eyes that are fairly
ablaze with courage aud intelligence. His
neck is rather heavy than otherwise, his back
very broad, coupling short, immense quar-
tiers. while his tail is carried behind him like
a L.
black and perfectly clean his feet are like
iron, and he is well shod. He had on neither
binder, check or martingale; but the har-
ness was good, and the open wagon, al
though heavy, was in capital order.
Aunt Jerusha came out dressed to 60 TO
town As she seated herself in the wagon,
she said to the deacon
What will people say when they see me
driving The Colt p
mo matter what they say, although it is a
little strange, for no one has ever driven him
but me. Now, Jerusha let The Colt have his
own way. If he wants to speed along a little
bit, don't pull and worry him, but let him
g'lang; he'll stop when he gets ready, and
you need have no fear of his firing himself.
We have had many a good ride behind him,
and you know what's fun to him would be
death to almost any other horse. And don't
forget yourself, Jerusha, and slap him with
the reins when you want him to 60, for if you
do you will have terrible time with him. l
never did it but once, and he almost pulled
me over the dashboard When you want
him to go faster, simply say to him, GO on.
But you know just how to drive"
The deacon's wife gathered up the reins,
clucked to The Colt, who moved of few
rods quite briskly, then stopped, looked be-
hind him, whinuied, and commenced paving.
l. Il. II, .NN
scene, was at the horses head in an instant.
"What in the world is the matter, Jeru-
sha ?" he said.
"Pm sure don't know" she replied. 'un-
less he thinks it very strange that you are
not going along. Perhaps you had better
come too"
The deacon laughed quite heartily. eyes,
| guess that's it, He is quiet enough now. "
In fact The Colt did seem TO be satisfied now
that his owner was near him. ''He will go
all right in a moment or so, said the deacon.
He slapped him on the back with his open
hand, bade him Ego on" and in another mo-
ment Aunt Jerusha was nearly out of sight.
The deacon went back to the field but tax
ing one more look down the road before he
went to work, he muttered to himself
1.-The dear, good old rascal I"
One of the field hands said to another
'Jehosaphat if that wont make a sensation
in town then Pm a sinner !"
And the reply was "Well, if Aunt Jeru-
sha runs afoul of the sports in town she viii
give them the opportunity they want to beat
The Colt. The deacon is as full of horse as
an egg is full of meat, but the old lady can
go him one better"
'But if that horse of Jim Blanes tackles
him, he's gone"
"Gonel I'll bet you a suit of clothes if he
tackles The Colt, he's gone. He ought to
beat The Colt in burst of speed, for he is a
regular old track horse but The Colt can
beat any horse over any distance of ground
that was ever foaled. had a ride behind
him once with the deacon, and he cut him
loose little, just because The Colt wanted
it, he said, and blast my eyes if it wasn't
hotter than any railroad train 1 was ever on.
And the rascal never wants to stop, either"
"And the deacon likes il as well as The
Colt. 1 tell you there'l be fun out of this
ride. Everybody in town will know that
she's in with The Colt, and that gang viii be
sure and go for her"
"Well, the old lady can take care of her
self. She sold her flly Pearl for $500 TO