Mower County transcript., 1890-07-23
rig OLD MANS TALE.
Il 10 About Tin Pail and q Mare, and
RemsrkHble Indeed.


Remarkable Indeed.
He was sitting on the lower forward
deck OF one Of the Staten Island rapid
transit ferry-boats. He was an old man,
with . serious expression in his gray
eyes, and his mouth above his snowy
beard was thin and tightly closed. He
lid not look at all like q man who
would lie unless there was money to be
made by SO doing. Yet the following
is truthful account OF what he said to
an acquaintance who came and sat near
him. There were several horses on the
boat, and few words to one of them
gave the old man chance to unburden
his mind. This is how he did it:
Eyes, sir; talkin' Of horses reminds
me OF suthin' that happened to me
t'other day when was out ridin' with
my little boy. We was in my buggy
an was drivin' that old mare O. mine.
You know that old mare. She amt got
no bad tricks an she never he'd. My
old woman has driv her ever sence got
her, an she never he'd no trouble O. no
kind with her. Well, sir, was drivin'
her. as / was a-sayin', with my little
boy last Thurs day afternoon. Remem-
ber what q showery day it was last
Thursday? Well, one O. them showers
como Up when l Was a-drivin', an put
the mare in a trot to git to shelter SOS
the boy wouldn't get wet. Make her
20 faster, pop says my little boy. an l
hit her lick with the whip to sort O.
hurry:.her up. First thing you know she
was goin' at two-forty gait an l leant
back an put tho whip away. Jest then
we ran over tin bucket that was a-lyin'
in the road an somehow or other the
handle of the bucket got caught round
one Of the spokes of the buggy wheel
an went a-circlin' round with 1t. It
made the durndest clatRr ever did
clean out O. that there mare. She jest
laid back her ears, kim O. snorted like,
an bumped herself for ell she knowed
how. Go! never seed the like in my
life. She jest whizzed along, an every
time that old tin bucket pounded the
ground she bumped herself along faster.
You bet my little boy didn't tell me to
drive no faster then. He was as scarf
as the mare. took him between my
knees an helt onto him tight Well, sir,
I don't know what wouldn't happened
II it hedn't ben that the tin pail fetched
loose from the wheel, an went whiZ-
zin' by my head toward the mare, an IL!
be gosh burned If it didn't hit her in the
flank an ketch onto her tail an stick
| there. That's what it did. Then she
did 20. D'yever see any race horses g
| comm down the homestretch in close
| heat? Well. they wasn't a circumstance
to the way that mare O mine run las
Thursday. She got right down close te
the ground an skinned along the stree,
like lightnin' express on a down grade
with all the brakes wide open. The tir
bucket kept swingin' from side to side
m hittin' her on first one flank an theI
the other, an at ev'ry lick she wen
faster. l do reckon she was a-goin
most mile a minute, whom at last the
bucket broke loose from her tail. Thel
| I got a fresh hold on the line
an sortcr sIackened her up, a
fore long she was a-trotting jes
as nice an easy as you please
1t was the queerest thing that eve
happened to mo in all the years I'v'
been a-drivin', and don't want nothin
like it to happen again. The next time
I see tin pail a-lyin' in the road yo'
kin bet I'll give it all the room i
wants. Hello! Here we are in tn
,lip. didn't think we was much pas
3ov'nor's sland. reckon we'd bette
be movin' to git off the boat"
And the old man shut his lips clos
together again and was lost in tn
crowd which was fastening to get VI
town from the Battery. The man t.
whom he had been talking was standing
stock still gazing after him and shaking
his head slowly from side to side.-N
Y. Sun.