Alpena argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1893-1909, 1894-12-05

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frightened away by a mounted
party which passed near, and had
not returned to plumber or complete
his murder. ], of course, did what
| could for the poor fellow. He
had few messages for me to send,
if possible, to the far-off Southern
home, and finally after begging me
to accept his horse as a mark of his
gratitude, he quietly died, and we
made, as well as we could, a shallow
grave for him under the cedars of
the mountain side.
The horse all this time showed
an almost human interest in all
that was done, and although dis
posed to show hostility with teeth
and heels when | first approached
his master, went off quietly enough
with us, only neighing farewell
as we went, and indigently shaking
off an unfortunate trooper, who,
with my permission, had attempted
to ride him. He nearly served me
the same trick, when, after three
weeks of kind treatment | mounted
him for the first time.
Finding me not a bad horseman,
Graylock renowned his Southern
prejudices, and has ever since been
firm and faithful friend. | was
we'll laughed at in the regiment for
adopting such a vicious, ill-made
beast; but one day, after he and l
had become we'll acquainted, l
astonished the regiment by riding
him over a barricade which had
been placed across road to check a
sudden dash Of horsemen. The
wonder of the officer who built the
barricade wasquite funny, and Gray
locks fame was established on a
firm foundation.
AS | said, was disabled by a
grapeshot, and had to be sent home.
In spite of all the offers of pur-
chase, | would not part with my
horse, and my mother tells me that
in the lucid moments of long
course of typhoid, which attacked
me OH reaching home, l would al
ways ask if Graylock was well cared
for.
AS the spring of 1874 came on |
grew better, and with Graylock for
my master of exercise, was soon
strong enough to undertake a long
contemplated horseback journey
across the country in search Of
strength, with Toms home as my
destination.
Never shall | forget that ride
among the New England hills. The
young grass was springing up on
all the fields; the trees were in that
tender geen foliage which precedes
the darker green of summer; the
streams were full, and after my long
confinement, the freedom of going
where | chose was inexpressibly re.
freshing.
The tireless stride of my horse
took me easily to the Shirleys
noble old country-house in three
days, and there | found Tom, pale
and suffering, but better, and heart
lily glad to see me. Mary, somewhat
worn with caring for her brother,
welcomed me as of old, as did the
squire and his wife.
expected to stay a month with
the Shirleys, and we settled into
regular occupations and habits
When the weather was favorable
Tom was placed in the open car
riage, one or two of the family
usually accompanying him. Often
the whole household went, some
going on horseback, and as Tom
gradually gained in strength, oui
rides became longer.
One beautiful June morning we
started to visit some friends q dozen
miles off, where we expected to
spend the greater part of the day
The squire and Mrs. Shirley were in
the carriage with Tom and young
er sister, while Mary, Ned, "a young
brother) and l were on horseback.
Mary rode mare which her faith
er had lately bought for her, per-
feet ladies' horse to look at, with no
fault except a touch of wildness
now and then in her eye. Ned rode
a pony, and l, of course, was on
Graylock.
The old horse was never in better
condition, and when the party from
time to time laughed at his person.
al appearance, he seemed to roll his
eye back at me as if asking for a
chance to show what he could do.
/ had never exhibited his prowess,
not feeling quite strong enough for
rash feats Of Craftsmanship, but
was strongly tempted to do so on
this morning, for the squire was
particularly pointed in illusions to
bones and ribs. l, however, con-
tented myself with trotting tri-
umphantly past the carriage when
the span of bays was doing their
best, little thinking that / was soon
to put Graylock to a severer task
than even I had ever seen him per-
form.
After going about six miles, we
reached the brow Of hill overlook
ing what is known in that region
as "the plains" an almost level
stretch of land, through which flows
stream of moderate size. We all
stopped to rest under some chestnut
trees, whence we could see the val
ley spread out before us. Our road,
after winding somewhat in descend