The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1883-12-21
STORIES ABOUT A HORSE.
The High Intslligencs He Showed on two
Occasions

The High Intelligence be Showed on two
Occasions.
'Thur he stands ez innocent-lookin'
an clipper ez or yearlin' colt, an no
un w'u'd b'lieve that hoss wuz 26 var
old. Yaas I've owned him SEM he wOr
er colt, and I've tcached him every
thing that he knows 'cept his meanness.
He coined nat'ral by that. pardner-hit
was borncd in him.
Old Zeke. of Texas. is q veritable
frontier patriarch. His horse is large
blOod-bay animal. who has wicked
fashion of showing the whites of his
eyes and laying back his thin ears.
He looks so much like one Nv them
thur Mexican Ions" explained the old
hunter, '.that named him Cougar"
He had often spoken to me of that
famous animal, and one day. shall
dever forget the circumstance made
Cougars acquaintance. was on my
way through n corral when screaming
neigh, the sound Of quickly falling
hOofs and warning cry caused me to
turn my head. A blOod-bay horse.
with proudly arched neck. flowing
name and tail, and head erect. was
coming toward me at q quick gall0p.
His thin ears were laid back close to his
head aud his red tongue hung from his
mouth between two rows of vicious
looking teeth. turned and faced the
rapidly advancing animal. The nearer
he came the more dangerous he looked,
and | was unarmed. would have run
toward the row Of stalls on the north
side of the corral for shelter. but they
were too far away. | could hear the
champ of his teeth and the sound made
cold chills run down my vertebral col
umn. Fire seemed to flash from his
eyes and great flecks of foam dropped
from his open mouth. When he was
within ten feet of me he reared, evil
IDENTIFY intending to crush me between
bis fOrefeet. | shuddered-most any
man would have done SO under the Cir
cumstances-and braccd myself for u
spring. The anticipated shock did not
spoken "Hyar!' in the well-known
voice of One-eyed Zeke, and the horse.
but recently so full of vicious fire,
halted, pricked up his ears and stood
meekly in front of me. with such an
expression of innocent wonder on his
face that burst out laughing. He did
not like this and laid back his ears
again.
"Hyar. We rascal!'' shouted his mas
ter. None NV that
INTRODUCED.
He walked up To where / was stand
ing and placed his hand on my shoulder.
This hyar's 4 pardner NV mine,
Cougar" he said. ..Shaker'
Cougar who hal inclined his head
gravely, as though listening to his
masters words. lifted one Of his fore
feet and extended it toward me in u
very friendly manner. | grabbed the
outstretched limb. and since that time
Cougar aud have been very good
friends, although never cared TO pre-
snme on our acquaintance by any undue
familiarity.
In 1874 party of soldiers who were
being guided by II Ike followed an Indian
trail which tren,iri across FL LlandO
del Marie. which is an arid. sandy.
alkali desert. Il was about one huti-
little water u il. The soldiers had
reached tho Aridle of the desert when
they were overtaken by a terrible sand
storm. which lasted about twelve hours.
Many of the men and horses were
suiloca,cd b. the sand. The packs and
watersheds were blown away and those
of tine horses that were not killed stam-
peded. Old Zeke was badly bruised.
end the alkali dust entering his throat
had so swollen it that he could hardly
speak. The soldiers were living about
suffering from the same difficulty, and
Meke knew that unless they could reach
water they would all perish. When he
came to his senses Cougar was standing
near him. and he called the animal to
his side. With great difficulty he man
aged to Chamber into the saddle.
''Water!" he whispered hOarsely into
the horses ear.
Cougar threw up his head. shifted the
air for moment, and then started of
at gallop. He made straight for
water hole. about three miles distant,
and wien he reached there Zeke was
enabled to allay his burning thirst. He
filled his canteen with water and start
ed Cougar hack with it 10 the suffering
soldiers. He made the journey swiftly,
and when he returned his saddle was
loaded down with canteens. Zeke filed
these and started the horse back again.
He made several trips, and when every
body had been supplied, the missing
horses and pack animals were hunted
up and the outfit turned back toward
the post When thew reached there,
and the story of Cougars sagacity be-
came known, they made hero OF the
horse. The officers drank his health,
their wives and daughters made him q
blanket, the soldiers whose lives he had
saved contributed money enough TO
buy him a costly saddle and bride, and
the commander of the scouting party
had gold medal struck on which is
engraved an account of the affair.
"Yaas," said Zeke, when he finished
the story, Cougar ez tolerbul keen an
he hez more sense than half the humans
what meets; but he's no angel, ez the
men what fools around his head or heels
kin testify o."-[Correspondence Phil
06:iphia Times. ...
Shallow Yankees Aping English Manners
Among the multitude of things that
the papers say "must GO" and that re-
ally ought to Ego, but that won't go"
just the same, in hurry, first and fore
most and worst of all, is this contagious
thing, Anglomania. The craze for APP
ing English styles and manners is at the
bottom of most of the present seasons
peculiar follies. The bang and the Jer-
sew, the Mother Hubbard nigh,-gowns
for day-wear, and pretty much every
thing else that is popular and ugly in
the feminine rig, are English. The
ideal dude is an English dandy. Sup
posed-to- English, too, are the drags
and dog-carts and heavy twO-wheeled
things that are the only correct vehicle
at watering places-and in town, too,
as Buffalo gives evidence. Did you
ever take q ride in ''cottage-cartp"
You sit on box-seat just abaft the
axle. and its a study conundrum wheth-
er the motion will shake your internal
verities out of you or whether your
weight will lift the horse of his fore
legs. Gath" who. though a great
gabber, is no snob, relates an incident
quite in point here. "At the Boston
train" he writes, ''when we were en-
tering the town, q person of rather ro-
bust size, wearing blush gray suit
and with blackish side-whiskers, began
to speak to a woman in the most ultra
awfully awful West End of London
style. The first word he got out of his
mouth was invariably stutter, and he
stumbled on as If biting at his sentences.
When he had passed out my friend re-
marked to me. Whom do you suspect
that to bep' Said /. 1t might be Lord
Vaudeville, or it might be his valet
No. said he, that is Henry James.
L.. .h~