Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-08-03
JACOB.
TWO woNrS ,SDi noRse.

4, /. now nearly three weeks since We
took horse 10 keep The. family to
whom be belonged ~ere goine TO spend
the summer in Europe. We knew the
fis,eher ,lish,ly. They called on us
To see II We would entertain Jacob. their
faithful s,eed. They said they knew u
Ne bad him they should re., easy; and
they knew that our horse VAS lame now.
and perhlp. VIC nigh, like TO use Jacob
for hi. keep. Afterwards We found ou,
,hs, ,hous sh the Fle,eAer nigh, res,
easy. We could not. We thought well
Of this proposition. We decided We
would have Kentucky. shoe, taken oii
and pa, her in our pasture back OF the
barn.
when these people drove over from
the town where they live. they did not
drive their own horse. bu, came With I.
neishbor. II hspPsned ,h., We had
never seen the horse ,ha, we were TO
take until be came on the day hs family
LEI, for New York 20 take the steamer.
A man in . very narrow open buggy
drove into our yard. Hnehed to his
wagon behind him W. an iron.gray
horse 90 tall ,ha, !, made ore gasp to
look a, him. |, Was no, ,hs, be Vas 90
very heavy. bu, ,hs, hs lex. and neck
were 90 long. Now We knew enough TO
be aware that /, IL no, . good sign TO
'.ee 10 mreh daylish, under . horse"
One could see half the hrmamen, under
Jacob.
The man grined a, he said he guessed
,hi. va. the old Barton place. We said
/, Was.
"wsll." he responded. jumping down
from hi. sea, aud beginning TO unite the
halter which VAS fastened TO the rear OF
hi. buggy. "wall. I've brought, ye
,hi. ere railroad bridge. ye see"
My sister and both stood with our
head. thrown back. gazing. ! immedi.
s,ely suggested ,ha, !, misn, be well to
lead the horse home again. | did'n, be-
lie,e We could take care Of him, and my
sister added ,hs, We had bad no expert
enee in the wants Of = dromedary. OF
even a giraffe. The man grinned '''ll
more.
Can, take him back" he said Ibis
folk. have gone. Hadn',ye ever seen
this eri,,sr before p
Never
Then he laughed. and laughed 50 long
,hs, we began TO be angry. jacob.
meanwhile had begun to grsle. saw
he had Kind eyes there vas no vicious
appearance about him. My sister re.
marked ,ha, IL she had money enough
TO travel in Europe she though, she
should afford to sell Jacob. where upon
the man wen, of into another laugh.
and I asked .,ernly how many tricks be
had. As soon a, possible ! WAS told
,ha, he h.dn, any tricks ; he was per.
fec, horse, 50 far =. be knew. The
Fle,ehers .e, such store by him they
wouldn't sell him a, no price. and they
though, We wemen folks would spprci.
ate him.
Having said this with grea, solemniiy
and emphasis, be pu, the end OF the hal.
ter into my hand. placed his foo. on the
hub Of the wheel. and sprsng over into
his buggy. As he drove away We sa~
him swsying with laughter. and he KEEP,
looking behind a, the group be had LETT.
I, was = good while before either OF
u. spoke. Our Gordon setter now walk
ed up from somewhere, glanced At US,
and walked away again. /. II washing
his hands Of this affair. =.
81 guess we'll put him into the barn,
I said eheerfally after while. "fou 20
in and turn Kentucky out
Gertrude did ~ she was told. In a
momen, I saw our horse walk out OF the
west door into the pasture. She had .
loose box and il Was into this that ! now
led Jacob. The box Was no, the largest
Kind, but II Was roOmy enough for Ken
,ucky TO turn round in. and shs Was =
good.sired animal. i, never occurred to
US ,ha, this apartment was not large
enough for any horse, or II !, Was not
,ha, any horse OF sense would try to turn
round in Il.
We close the door and stood mo-
ment. asking each other what We were
going to do. We said We hated the
Fle,ehers. We said We hoped they
would drown; bat We withdrew that
wish for two reasons; frat because Il
they drosn We should have to kseT
Jacob forever; secondly. because the
wish vas wicked.
Az We walked toward the house VI
heard . great noise Of hoof'. and thsr
an ominous stiffness. in which We fan
cied was . Kind Of choking sound. W.
ran back and flung open the box door
There vas Jacob describing curve across
the room, his headquarters being BE-
ing one end and his head the other. both
against either partition that he VA
curved nearly into half circle. and sP'
peared to be smo,hering. 20 twisted ws'
bis neck.
"Run for . man !" ! cried out. look
ing wildly round fOs soms'hing. hns'
not What.
n