The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1886-07-01
BUYING A HORSE.
The Trials and Failures of Two
Unprotected Females.

Scarcely twenty-four hours had
elapsed since Corona intention to add
a horse to her domestic circle had been
mentioned aloud, before she found her
self in the heart of new world. Ii
might be succinctly called the horse
world. The delights of the freside,
the enticements of the June sky, the
fascination of the ocean, the delicate
shift and play of summer life, receded
from her consciousness like plates in a
magic lantern. Her brain cells became
stenciled with the language and liter
ature of the turf. Anxious to proceed
upon her rash venture with some
degree Of intelligence, she had made
herself the posseSsor of a book called
1.-The Horse and his Habits'' When
anybody called, as somebody did at
the rate of six or seven day, with Il
horse to sell, she consulted this useful
volume. She received the impression
that horse was the most delicate
creature, and subject to the richest
stock of bodily intirmities of any
specimen of organized life known to
our present civilization. An infant or
a woman was nothing to it. Beyond
this one idea, which rapidly assumed
the dangerous proportions of the
-'fixed" in COrona's mental life at this
period, it can not be said that she
brought away much available knowl-
edge from 1.-The Horse and his
Habits" =" She perused the book sturdi-
ly. Tom did not come. OF course
Tom did not cOme-he was in Idaho:
it was something about bearskins-so
she clung to the intelligent volume
brayely, as the sole defence between
herself and the delicate sense of honor
well known to belong to the Jockey,
considered as class. Who has ever
solved the riddle? What is there about
horses which should be so injurious to
the human conscienceP Why should a
horse make a man a commercial rascal,
rather than glue, or cracked wheat, or
dry goods, or soap?
One horse in particular pleased
Corona very much. The owner had
come every day with it, and stayed.
He had stayed very much. He had
fastened his horse to the clothes post,
beginning on Monday when the lines
were up, and outstayed all the other
bids. Corona, with feminine respect
for the pertinacious in pursuit, ad-
7nired the perseverance of this man and
hated to hurt his feelings by refusing
to take his horse.
Her friend Mary had come over to
stay q few days in order to help Corona
through this trying period. The two
ladies drove together from morning to
night, experimenting with the different
applicants, in the lazy, delightful coun-
try fashion that makes horse-hunting
as high art pleasure unknown to
towns. Through murmuring lanes,
where the bees fastidiously tasted the
barberry blossoms, over the brilliant
beaches, and deep into the scented
woods, Mary and Corona rode and rode.
They rode the old horses, young horses,
sound horses, sick horses, horses that
went and horses that wouldn't 90, and
horses that went more than was ex-
pected of them; horses that ran away
with them and horses that sat down
with them; horses that limped, horses
that stumbled, horses that coughed,
horses that took the bits between their
teeth and horses that wouldn't go up
hill without lump of sugar. There
was one, but only one. who kicked the
dasher down when he met the first
summer boarder, in an imported shade
hat, constructed in the form of meet
ing-house and ornamented with muslin
sunflowerS.
For some reason sufficient to the
reader of The Horse and his Habits. y
none of these animals seemed suitable
for the needs of her family, and She re-
turned with weakening heart to the
horse tied to the clothes post since
Monday morning. His owner was
quite sure that he would I'LL the bill
'.The bill?'' asked Corona. Fill
what bill? We haven't come to the
bill yet.'
Pardon, num-" said the man, red
dening q little. sta:t "a
. y Corona looked at him vaguely. She
was still deficient in ''horse talk"
She explained that she wanted q good
family horse. .~r-4
She was assured that this was per-
feet specimen of that kind of thing.
SeundL -z-- -.
Sound as sense! Hadn't an out about
him.
Corona did not know what an out
was. She thought it might be some
new kind of disease. So she consulted
1.-The Horse and his Habits before
replying.
s'It isn't in my book" she whispered
TO Mary. ''It may be one of those new
aggravations developed by the epizoot-
ic. But as long as the horse hasn't
got it, don't see that it matters. Do
you?" sV ga1i
''Why-no-no! 1 shouldn't think i.
did," said Mary conscientiously.