The morning call., 1893-11-05

Of countenance.
l was about to reply in the affirmative
to the Judges question when l reflected
that. strictly speaking. such affirmation
might be open to doubt. Strictly speak
ing, while the assessor had once included
her on the list of my taxable personal as
sets. valuing her at 500. upon which
amount the collector in due time mulcted
me out OF liberal percentage, l never
really owned Mrs. Giddygaddy. but there
was one period in my life when Mrs. Giddy-
gaddy owned me and left me in no doubt
as to her knowledge of such ownership. IL
was when we first moved out of town.
Neither Kate nor / had ever lived
III the country, but we took a notion,
| that summer. to try rural existence. We
| pictured TO ourselves an arcadian sort OF
Life, surrounded by rustic comforts and
solid enJoyments, "far from the maddening
crowd"
Think Of fresh vegetables from our own
| garden, Kate said ecstatically. And
cream" l added as visions Of Il mild-eyed.
Geer-ilke Jersey cow arose before me. Il
! ind that l need only to start half an hour
earlier in the morning." said Kate. ITO
reach the office at my usual hour, and can
be at home by half-past five every even
| ing. And only to think" with a joyous
smile. ''of sitting through the beautiful
Californian sunset beneath our own vine
and fgtree.'
Thus we planned in the innocence of our
! hearts, OF yet having received Mrs. Giddy-
! gaddy within the pale of our consciousness.
we found darling cottage about mile
from the station. There was about an acre
OF land about equally divided between or
chard. lawn and garden. with small corner
reserved Tor chckeu-yard. A neat little
stable, with place for a pony or COW,
completed the outfit. Gazing at it had
an inspired thought that made me almost
| tlmld about assOcating with myself so far
| did 1t tower above my ordinary mental
| range
| Nate, l said, trying to speak in an or
dinary tone. "the house is quite walk
from the Station; l think it would be
worth our while TO keep horse"
Kate stood silent while the great thought
| slowly percoated through the inner re-
! cesseS of her brain. Then:
Are you really awake?" size asked.
II think | must be-" was my reply. II
! DO not usually talk in my sleep. l am not
dreaming; am only inspired.
But the eXpense?"
II have been laying by during the past
year for rainy day. Well. the rainy day
has come. l mean to buy a pony and
! phaetop."
We removed to our rural home. At the
end OF week we were comfortably set
! tied. Kate had missed the train once,
| however, and / was more determined than
| ever that we must have a horse and We
| hicle. l had already bargained for sec
ond-hand phaeton and harness. The
! former stood in the carriage shed of the
! little barn, the latter hung on a peg
within convenient distance. Up in the
little loft ton OF hay had been slowed.
and half dozen sacks of barley stood
in delightful row. All was in readiness
! for the steed.
But l @as critical. Tread books without
number on choosing horse. 1t was gen.
orally understood in the neig h borhood that
| was looking for horse. and from morn
till dewy eve" for nearly the entire week
my door had been the rendezvous of farmer
| folk innumerable, all desirous of selling
/ me equine Quadrupeds by the score and
the hundred. Each was sure ne had just
the horse l wanted ana each told me- pri-
vatey that every other horse that had
| been offered me was gone in his wind
or ''kneesprung," or had bots or some
| other Of the mysterious ailments that be-
! tall equine flesh. l was greatly taken
with one fine-lookIng animal, and would
| have barganed for him probably but for
! the timely warning of Il worthy man W who
| had undertaken to stock the pOultry-yard.
That there h0ss's cleau gone chestfOund-
ered," he told me, c0nfdeniialy, and
warned NE not 0 invest. He was not in
the horse trsde himself, he added, but if
We ladies' really wanted a safe, reliable
| animal be had one at home that bis wife
| drove and his little girl rode, that he was
| thinking some of selling if be could find a
| good home for her, He wouldn't think OF
| parting with her otherwise. The descrip-
tion of the animal sounded encouraging,
! and | invited him to bring her around fer
inspection, which be did the next day.
| l used TO believe in first impressions.
am Dota believer in Them now. | formed
a favorable impression OF Mrs. Gddy-
gaddy at first sight. She was plump and
handsome, with trim little legs and round,
compact feet Kind as kitten" said her
| owner, who had ridden her up bare backed,
with but halter over her nose. "She
amt afraid of nothin', and will stand
| without tying anywhere" / looked and
longed. 1t seemed to me the plump pony
was especially designed to occupy the va
cant stall in our little stable, aud ] pur-
chased her on the spot, taking bill Of SALE
| that guaranteed her as sound as nut and
| broken TO saddle and harness. took the
| halter rope with The proud feeling of DOS
! session, and walked with my new purch ase
! to The stable. Incidentally | gave her a
| drink OF water and tossed her down some
| hay, which she was soon contentedly
munchlng.
| spent almost the entire day in the
stable waiting upon Giddygaddy, which
was the mares name. Kate afterward, in
the VIII porn OF experience. 0uDDeQ her
| .the Mrs." which in time became Mrs.
| Giddygaddy. l could scarcely wait for
train time, so eager was | to hitch up and
| go TO meet Kate, bat at last the time
came. / had previously learned to har-
ness, and put Mrs. Giddygaddy into tue
shafts with very little trouble. The mare
trotted down to the station like lady. and
manifested no fear of the engine, or even
OF r0ad-roller that we passed on the
way. Kate's surprise and pleasure at our
new acquisition were all that could wish,
| and we drank deep OF the delights of rural
residence as We drove in our own carriag
to our little cottage. where supper awaited
| US.
After supper we took little drive, re-
turning home before dark that we might
have daylight to aid us in putting he
horse to bed" as Kate would say, much
10 my chagrin. even after l explained to her
that she should OF speak of horse being
put to bed. 1T sounds so mucn more civ
ilized than 'bedded down." she pleaded.
We got Mrs. Gddygaddy comfortably
embarrassed and had tied her in her stall
when l remembered that she should have
drink. So l united her. led her to the
trough and let her have all she wanted Of
the fresh. cool water. Then l started
back to the barn. but Giddygaddy
| oil mil da6