New-York tribune., 1885-10-18

riding home, and am half frozen T. AS usual tio tho
compensation was peasnSS wnm,n is never so well
Wenoed az when ministering to the wants of her
husband particularly If taat f or drn
VIZ The next day but one, Friday, was that deter
rined by long precedent as the killnabailew
hqntGBay' the large field in front of the house
h;"b ,s so called in this part OF the country even
if only grazing-iied. l resolved to rue biack
beauty Nora tried to dssuade ne me- 9ut % Scor To ehs
When he wos brought round to the hali doOr, enc
ontented herself with fe " general wordso praise.
fiCttrbnted this lukewarmness TO naturai 1eGlhg
of bitterpcss against the usurper oil Dobblhs pice
and did not try to combat OF possibly III was as uo
20 sudden accession of nervousness caused Dy my
roshness in bunting a horse OF whom knew SO
little Before | had ridden hundred yards, re- re-
mnentcd nv frmness. Black Beauty was evidently
feeling rather used UP and ont OF spirit as tne ocs
horse may sometimes | blamed myself lor hot
hovinr gfvcn HIM more than one day TO recruit III
L"forc riding him in public 1t was 100 late 10 turn
hack now as the hounds were just throwing OF.
SPLENDID fox at last bro Ike cover the pack started
oil i'm full cry, and Black Beauty walked mp cohslu-
crably as we gallOpcd along. But then the VerieSt
cart horse could do no less. and his sprits soon
tagged again. There was some excuse 1oI MN
sudden chage had come in the night, ana rapid
thaw set in. OF course Reynard picked out tue
worst possible route! And OF course we were st0n
toing painfully oyer muddy sWamps hSi ana lbs 'nSE n
and bravely did his best. f0rbore to use whip or
SPUR for he was evidently straning every nerve to
Keep pace with his freSher companions. A. iast
horses and men were alike dis heartencd The ioX,
.bo oIv marty thoroughly satisfied with the turn
affairs had taken, ran TO earth III an Ola disuSeu
ou.rrv and no one seemed to have sufficient energy
left to wish to ride back to cover ior another'
Finally after the hardest stlckest run OF the sea
son we resolved TO make the best OF our way nome
And this the more readily, as 1t was drzzllng In
steady melancholy kind of way. most depressing TO
man and beast leaned forward IN my saudie' anu
patting Black Beautys neck, sad SootnihgB Lii4a
he too seemed to share the general detection, while
his steaming flanks and quiNcrlng nOstrl!S shoWeu
that tho fault lay iu no lack OF good Will ON his
Poor old Beauty You did Your best, didn't
Won. Old boyi But YOU shall have good rest TO
morrow and plenty of oats To ireShen you up altcr
your hard days work. | must tell olI CharIcsI
This was trenching on dangerous ground, so broke
off abruptly, and Withdrew my hand from his
damp neck. In doing SO NOTICED that it looked
dirty and discolored and then furt her perceived
thnt the foam with which Black Beauty's sides
were decked had also dark, dull. purPhsh hne.
"ShocAingly badly grOJmed he must nave been
Charles shall give him II regular soap ana water
scrubhing. lie ought 10 have seen for himself What
a filthy state the horse was in. just what nave
often saidl His sight is falling fast S!li didn't
notice il myself when bought him; he looked clean
enough then HullO, confound it, Here comes
Purcell. and nothing escapes his prying eyes.
1t too late to eyade hn. lie r3ne UP oosG, r
ing. "Dcuced hard run, that. Langley Inc hrst
fox we've let eScaps us this season an your new
horse. see Looks pretty well done up Had
"No, not exactly! but immensely ,spla'hcd.
What do you think of him. PurcelN Rather nice
thing fancy Only got him on Wednesday, so he
Ouitc UP 10 tlle MAR Ntl w thln bi'N'Ai'"7' ~
clipping and maklng-up generally,
q xii The grooming in the world won't make an
old horse into young one, '.alihouhced Iur'eII
Old, Why, he's only rising seven-six or seven
the fellow could not remember which. di'h
want anything younger rs my we ihtehus 10 ny
lin occasionally and she prefers n quiet animal
Rising seven Phew tho long whistle WAS
indicative of extreme incrcluliiy. Rising seven.
teen more likely Tcsa"r& & oId ;aSGT tIl II am md.
ing cram Id like TO know, ell z
"Aw. well, To tell the truth. don't know ihe
mans name! But he'd passed the hor'o the day he,
fore | bought him. warranted him Sonni anu all
that so | knew il was all right HE iact was that
had never taken into consideration the a'VIsap"-
ity of getting a vets opinion 10 back MP my own
but there was no occasion for me TO mention THIS
tritling oversight TO Purcell
"Ah, sec - he said thoughtfuliy. raising hrs eve,
brows and stroklng his long muSiachc-a GESTURE
particularly disliked. "Weil. he will probably be
duiet enough in all conscience for Mrs. Langley 20
driNe-or ride either. Eut II BET you Il ooN' hc u
not clear til at fence!
aDonolr cried striking my spurs into his sides.
and Black Beauty sprang forward. Ii wasn't much
of n leap; old DObbin had often taken u when ne
was fresh; but theIe deep, broad ditch on the
o,Ler side and my horse was pretty well done MP.
However | did not doubt that he could tackle It,
and we charged the fence at full speed. Lhtlng
Black Beauty we'll mp TO the leap. touched nm
again with the eur: he took IL bravey and cleared
tne fence. with perhaps hairs breadth t. spare
But alas for TIE luclcs' morse anu a'l' l"I & ,lle
lucklcss rider Black Ecauty fell short ol me rih
ground and we were both plunged INTO the deGP
muddv ditch. | threw myself from his back, "a h,'
touudered helplcsSly about III the mlTe anu thlck
velIov clay reaching the bank Just in time 20 see
PurcclTs Young clear fence and ditch with an
easy bound ana stop short haia-doIcn yards ironl
the scene OF the catastrophe. 10 dsm0uut. ana
with nv assistance TO cNtrcatc poor Black Beauty
was the work OF a moment with hun Incn, III
spite of my muddy. miserable condition buI.t
into a roar of laughter, aud Purcell followed sun
with hearty goodwill. He was the hrst to recover
his gravity.
al saw. Langley! Look here, What's up next
This looks serious. I'm afraid yOur Aorsc - gong
to have a lit something of the kind never saw
a horse foam like this IN my life" looked round,
and saw 10 my horror, that he was almost covered
with "A dark purp!isl iolm, whllc the water ihit
str.amed from his dripping Hanks was also tingcd
with black His breath came IN short, quick gaEps.
aud his sides heaved painfully like those OF a
Lroken-windrd horse. Then | saw. too. that my
hands were darkencd and stained through coming
In contact with the wrctchcd animal while ~allow,
ing in the ditch. Even Purccis scarlet coat hai
moi escaped scOt-frce.
nv George! This is a bad business Langley Get
him home as fast as yOu can. Tell your o.d groom
to attend to him at once. He'll understand the case
' Possibly 5, ggested too thoroughly alarmed
10 resent this speech" possibly the iiound'rInP
about IN that abOminablc ditch has done the ms
chief Look at his legs They are perfectly yellow
He must have been half buried IN clay!
"That'S not clay" exclaimed Purcell stopping
down to get a closer view Of his legs lm q
Dutclnan if II hasn't turned the hair yellow And
look there at his side and his shoulder Just the
same. by Jngo! Most extraordinary thing ever
aThere's no use standing here in the rain to dis
cuss H." sald rather sulkily, rcmounting my poor
horse as spoke. "solne chemical property Of the
water | suppose. At all events, Pll hurry home
| nowG
Al! right It's decidedly the wIsest thing vor
ran doO And we rode on silently side 10y side
Blach Beauty labored on, looking almost dcAd-9eat
| saw with d.smay that the strange, SCI 'Iy ycll0"
| hue was extending over his whole body and th'
! pnrple foam dropped from his jaws to the ground
| / was ABSOLUTELY ut my wits end, and began tt
| wonder whether hOr5's WCTC ever aiiCtcL Will
iauudice and neither this could be case in point
| While mentally revolving this question. ! wa
| startled and annoyed by th6 sound OF yell o
| laughter from my companion. And not only Ont
| explosion Of miIth, but zeal upon peal, until
| waved seriously wroth
| For incrcy's sake, man. stop that row ! call Il
deuced unieclng Of you when a fellow is in a nasty
! fix"
! I" nasty fix! ~ he echoed, with another uncOn