The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-06-04

BUT HE NEVER KICKED ME.
first personal acquaintance with one.
1t sorter Jared on my nerves, bein',
so TO speak, reflection on my YER
acity.
But I made the best ont, an led
| the horse out on the barn floor. l be-
gan to make few general remarks On
the good points of the beast. There
was a curry-comb lyin' on beam an
all of sudden the hoss grabbed the
handle of it with his teeth an held it
out toward me. | stood paralyzed.
Then the boss brushed my hat off, and
began to comb my hair.
That's touchin' appeal says the
drummer. He knows what he wants.
81 was gettin' mighty nervous, never
havin' seen dumb beast act that way
before. / judged it was better to get
him back into his stall as soon as pos
sible.
"'Come, Beauty, says I, grabbin' the
halter, it's time you had your oats
'Well, sir. at the sound O. the word
oats that boss fell dead in his tracks.
He rolled over on his back an stuck
all four legs up in the air as stiff as
table legs. / tried to get him up but
it was no use.
Z" You ought to have broken it to
him gently said the drummer. He
died o joy
''And then he laughed. At this the
dead boss opened one eye an his
mouth, an began to laugh, too. be-
gan to think 1 was goin' out o my
head. For over an hour / worked on
that critter tryin' to get him on his
legs, an l couldn't do it. Then the
drummer gave it up an went away.
Jes' as soon as the man was out o sight,
the boss got on his feet agin as well as
ever
Il didn't call the drummer back, but
l sat down an ruminated. / come
pretty nigh fgurin' the thing out as it
was. Ducello's circus had been up
Bangor way a week or two before, an
I'd heard about trick boss bein' with
the show. He was a sort o clown boss,
an from description I'd got o him
came to the conclusion that this was
the identical animile. learned after
wards that the boss had got sick, the
circus people had sold him, and the
Iniun had stole him.
Now, what was I goin' to do with
him? | don't believe in harborin'
stolen property an if the man who
bought the boss of Ducello had come
to me with proper legal authority I'd
have returned him. But while waitin'
for him to come, it seemed best to turn
an honest penny. Well, sir, to make a
long story short, | sold that boss to
nineteen different men. Jes' as soon
as man had bought him, I got the
Teller to hitch up, an as he was about
to drive away, l dropped a remark
about oats.
He's used to havin' plenty OF oats
I'd say, an down would go the boss in
his tracks. That was Il trick he'd
learned. Nothin' could make him get
up while the other Teller was in sight;
an so I'd jes' naturally buy the body
for a couple O dollars. an be anywhere
from forty TO fifty dollars ahead o the
trade. But the nineteenth time I got
stuck. | lost the two dollars. When
the stranger moved slowly away, bein'
poorer an wiser to the amount o. fif-
teen dollars an Il bag o corn, Beauty
didn't get up. He had done his trick
for the last time. Yes, sir. I'd been
swiDdled right in my own dooryard.
I'd paid two dollars for a dead horse"
p However, | do not think that this
small error on the part Of Mr.. Perkins
should stand in the way Of his selection
for the post Of official horSe-trader at
the fair. | have forwarded state
ment Of his qualifications 10 Chicago,
where, if anywhere, they should be
appreciated. How ARD FIELDING.