Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1892-02-12

found were the same. Each doctor
had his theory and his method OF APP
plying it One said / was stiaed in
the right hind leg. and that the left
leg ought to be bandaged with a
leather strap so tight that / could not
stand upon It, He said this would
make mo stand upon the lame leg.
and bring the stihe joint back to its
place. Another said / was stove up in
the shoulder, and II peculiar lini-
ment which he prepared. was APP
piled, would be all right in few
days.
10 my pain and anguish the most
of these abominable remedies were
applied; and it is a mystery to me to
this day. how | ever escaped with my
life. The fact is my injury was SIM
ply slight sprain in the ankle of my
right fore foot and had my master
protected me from the doctors and
turned me out to Craze for few days,
/ would have soon recovered. But as
it was, my master seeing no speedy
improvement in my condition es-
pecally after he had exhausted the
scientific lore of the horse doctors,
and after having spent several dollars
for useless ointments, salves and lini-
ments, traded me off to farmer for
! an old mule.
Il keenly felt this degradation, but
this was simply nothing to what / ex-
perienced later on. The mule and my
self having exchanged masters was,
of course, expected to fill the mules
place. | was put into the pillow before
sunrise in the morning where | re-
manned until after shutdown in the
evening. was hitched to the wagon
beside an old horse who knew how to
shirk, and had the greater portion
of the load TO draw. l was naturally
high spirited, and the plodding gait
of my mate annoyed me- This con-
slant hard work soon began to show
itself on my body. / became poor and
skinny ana at times so weak that /
could scarcely do the work required
of me- To add to my suffering the
lash was freely used. You have no
idea sir, how tender horses skin is.
A cut with a knife is not more painful
than a sharp lash OF the whip. My
food supply during this time was very
short too, and l frequently felt the
pangs of hunger. As natural con-
! sequence from this hard usage / be-
came diseased aud permanently lame.
| My master. seeing l was no longer able
to work. traded me off to deacon for
yoke of steers.
MY new master, the deacon, of
course expected me TO take the place
of the oxen on his farm And my
sufferings during the next few years
were frightful. was made TO work
the entire week. and on Sundays 1
was hitched TO clumsy spring wagon,
and / had the deacon, his wife. who
was very fat six children. and some
times a neighbor or two in addition
to pull to the meeting house. was
hitched to sapling near the place of
worship. and left standing for long
weary hours without food or water.
l was used at all the funerals and
weddings for miles around by day and
night The result was that / soon
became blind from constant overworK.
During this period of my servitude /
wished myself dead thousand times,
but no such good luck fell to me. The
good deacon. discovering that l was
turning blind on his hands, hastily
proceeded to get rid of me- and highly
praising qualities l did not possess.
traded me off to a brother deacon.
who by the way. was my last master.
l think he gave an old COW in exchange
for me. / soon turned stone blind on
his hands but was nevertheless made
to work so hard that often staggered
in my tracks from sheer exhaustion.
Finally became so poor and weak
that it was oil / could do to carry my
own weight My master finding that
he could not trade me off, or use me
any longer turned me QUIT suppose
to die.
so you see have no master now,
and am left old. blind and crippled
to starve and die. But / have been
keeping skin and bones together for a
few months in this old field. and as
long as the sun shines and the grass
grows / may live little while longer
but dread the snow and ice of win
ter. / do not mind dying of hunger
so much as l dread freezing and starv-
ing TO death together
Il know, too, that the vultures are
anxiously waiting to devour my poor
body, for when i lie down they get
more bold and swoop down very close
to me, but have been able thus far
to keep them at bay"
Poor old fellow" said l. you
have, indeed, had hard lot in life. /
will now leave you. and come and see
you again when cold weather arrives
II you are then still living. / will put
you out OF your misery with well
directed bullet from my gun"
Old Joe thanked me- and hoped
that / would not forget my promise.
-Arkansaw Traveller.
A Curate's Qualifications.
Il