The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-08-06
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Tho Noble steed which N Agae Sufferer
Was About 70 Brave.
had never been on . horse in my
life, and when the doctor proposed to
change his mode Of treatment from
quinine to horseback exercise l was .
little dubious as to the outcome.
My bump of caution is very large. re-
sulting in rare development Of my
running qualities. /, like so many
other sef-made men, do not know what
fear is. but l always have precip;tate
inclination to show dangerous foe how
my coat fits in the back, and am always
very generous in lending enchantment
to the view, distance being no object,
just so there's enough of it between US.
Contrary to report. l am not reckless.
but when close pressed by too inquis-
tive dog. l have been known to scale a
ten-rail fence with an abandon that
would reflect glory on a survivor of the
noble Six Hundred.
Now the time had come to show my
nerve. The change from two-gra'n
pills to a full-gr6wn horse would have
dismayed most people, but my great
grandfather landed on Plymouth Rock
Just trifle ahead of the May Flower.
didn't like the soil and came west. and
resolved not to disgrace him. Our
neighbor owned a horse whose da ly
business consisted in running wood
sawing-machine. and Iresolved, despite
my wife's entreaties. to borrow the ami
NAL on the following Sunday. The con-
tract was made without trouble. ltOOk
every precautiOn to have things gor ght,
and, under pretense of watching them
saw wood, l narrowly scanned the ac-
tons of the horse in the box. He was
picturesque looking animal; beautiful
range of hills running along his back
while the landscape on either side was
much broken and diversified. He had
good steady gait, and making my calcu-
lations from the number of revolutions
the wheel at the saw made, judged he
could make the mile post in 2:29. That
seemed like pretty quick time. and
when l told my wife about It she begged
me not to 90. But remembered
Plymouth Rock, and went next day
to gain more pointers. The horse
was ''diamond in the rough" l
think you could have scratched plate
glass window with most any corner of
him. always noticed . peculiar CLEAN
in the eye of tho soap.grease man when
he looked at HIM, and he was a connois-
seur. The horse had pathetic droop
to his upper lip, and must have had a
history. On his right flank was brand
of an ark with rainbow in the back
ground. indicating great antiquity. ]
took him an ear of corn one day, and
when l held it up to his good eye. he
did not recognize it. They were plainly
strangers, and the horse jumped back
as though he thought it was loaded
As l watched, the possibilities in that
horse grew, as likewise did my admira-
ton. Travelling, as he always did. up
hill, the sections of his backbone had
kind o. settled towards his tail and
seemed to have little life in them. But
Just let the saw strike knot in the log,
and the way he'd couple that train of
bones and start up grade would ring a
cheer from "a six-driver locomotive. l
think he dissipated on ''anti-fat," and
when he'd gather up his forces for a
final squirt he d make Haverly's ''bones"
green with envy.
My wife, meanwhile, was busy pre-
pairing for my Sunday excursion. She
had life-preserver rolled up to pu: un-
der the tail-board of the saddle. some
bandages and splin,s, canteen of cold
tea and bottle of patent liniment. /
suggested, scarcastically, that a fog
horn would add to the general effect of
the collection, but she sad the almanac
said Sunday would be clear day. SO l
subsidized. These preparations for war
looked so much Ike reality that l be-
gan to inquire into the habits of the
horse more closely. They said he got
loose one night and ate up a tub of
soft soap; ate all the br.stles off of the
hogs back and the brush end of the
broom. All this from pure viciousness,
for they had given him u pintcup level
full of oats two days before. He snap
ped straw hat off of the preachers
boys head and swallowed it-buckles
and all. 1t was cons dered utter reck-
lessness to leave kindling-wood or
shavings with n his reach. F ON this
time on l had no peace. Could !. as the
head of a family. even in an attempt to
regain my health. risk my life on such
q stecd?
Saturday night slept but little, but
Sunday morning brought relief. Some
bad boys had broken into the horses
stable the previous night and poured
peck of oats into his feed box. They
found him dead and the oats untouched.
The verdict of the soap-greasc man at
the post-mortem examination was that
he came to his death from palpitation
of the heart superinduced by fright. In
all his long life he had never seen so
many oats before.-CUr. Pcck's Sun.
FRONTIER LAW.
IudO> Nfn~wSma NArfSleh a VApv PusR.