Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1895-08-08
The Stolen Horse.

There lived IN Auburn, N. l., some
sixty years ago clergyman, an init
mate friend of my grandmother. This
gentleman owned all exceedingly beau
tiful, feet and graceful sorrel mare,
which bore the classic name of Diana.
She was the admiration of the town
and the pride of the clergyman s family.
But, alas one dark and stormy night
the barn was boldly entered, and the
beautiful Diana stolen from her stall.
All efforts to discover the clever thief,
though long and perseveringly con-
tinued, were useless. At last the fam
lily sorrowing abandoned hope; anoth-
Their, but inferior horse, was purchased:
to which, by the way, the children
would not allow the occupancy Of the
old stall of their pet, for that, with
everything else that belonged to her,
they insisted upon keeping sacred to
her memory.
Nearly twenty years had passed,
the clergymans hair had grown white
with age, and his children had become
young men and women, when he
CHANGED one autumn TO be called on
business to a remote part of the State.
Having an easy chaise, he made the
trip, as was not uncommon in those
days, by private conveyance. He was
riding slowly along winding road on
the third morning of hisjourney, when
his attention was forced from the beau
ties of the scenery to the strange be-
havior of an old horse confined in a
pasture by theroadside. The creature
seemed bent upon attracting the cler-
gyman's notice; it pranced, snorted
and beat the fence with its forefeet,
keeping all the time in line with the
slowly moveing chaise. Wondering a
little as to the cause of such singular
conduct, the clergyman drove along
to the pasture, and then turned from
it down a road which branched off IN
an opposite direction. AS he did so,
he was startled by a cry of such human
agony from the poor creature in the
pasture that he instantly stopped his
horse and looked back
There, at the corner Of the fence,
she stood, her neck thrust despairlngly
forward, trembling in every muscle OF
her body, her eyes fixed upon hun
with an expression Of utter, helpless
misery, which strangely moved the
tendel-hearted clergyman. He now
discovered that the head and face Of
the animal bore a marked resemblance
to his lost Diana. Impressed by the
likeness, he obeyed a sudden impulse
ard drove rapidly back to farmhouse
near the pasture, where he found the
farmer Just getting up from his twelve
o'clock dinner
Friend, said the clergyman, "it
that your horse in the field yonder?'
Eyes; the mares mine. I've haC
her about twenty years.
"Twenty years May | ask wher'
YOU got her, friend?"
81 bought her of a pedler who
cheated my wife on gingham gown
but he didn't cheat me on that horse.
DIANA As sure as I'm alive !.
cried the clergyman, starting exoitedlyy
for the pasture, followed by the aston
ished farmer. He entered the field
and the moment the old mare caugh
sight of him she rushed wildly for
ward, snorting with delight. Old an'
faded, rougha and lame, the clergyman
still Enthusiastically recognized his los
beauty; and, oh, the Joy of Diana
Tenderly she licked her masters hand
and face, lovingly nestled her hea'
5 upon his shoulder, and at last, wit
something like her old coquettish ways
took the rim of his hat daintily be
tween her teeth, and, lifting it from
/ his head, replaced its hindside before