Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-05-07

load with him. But Rollo was poor
driver, for his hand on the reins was
heavy, and that fretted Bony sadly.
Sometimes the three, Bony, Jonas and
Rollo, were set to "cultivnte" or weed
potato patch. Bony pulled the plow;
Jonas held the handle and directed it,
and Rollo drove Bony. This arrange.
mcnt did not work well at all.
Rollo's heavy hand made Bony fran.
tic. He would drag the plow so fast
that Jonas could not keep it from veer-
ing to this side, now to the other, with
the effect of destroying q large num-
Der of my most promising potato plants,
Then Jonas was angry with Rollo, Rollo
blamed Bony, and all three reached
state of sweat and excitement.
Sometimes Bony settled the matter
by running away, plow and ALL to the
barn, while Jonas and Rollo followed
sheepishly with long tales of Bony's
duplicity. The truth Is, Bony was toe
smart for them.
Jonas was one of the men who hang
harness on the floor and never know ex.
actly where to find the halter. As
neither halter nor harness was ever at
hand, Bony was often naked and unre-
strained while Jonas hunted about. The
result was that Bony, carefully watch
ing his chance out of one corner of his
venerable eye, frequently made u dart
for the stable door, and was off to the
pasture or garden.
Finally, the differences between the
three had reached such pitch that !
wished / could promote Bony to the
post of foreman and put Jonas and
Rollo under his orders. AS this could
not be, adopted the other alternative.
| sent Jonas and Rollo away and OBJ
tanned in their stead one complete man,
who was incurably neat and orderly.
He proved also to be good driver,
having light hand on the reins. With
him Bony agreed capitally. To be sure,
the old horse had to relinquish the fun
of running away; but, on the other
hand, there was no hauling on his
mouth, no shouting of commands and
recations-nothing to disturb his
nervous system.
But winter was coming on, there were
more than enough horses in the stable,
grain was high. Bony was old. We de-
bated about putting him out Of the
way; but whenever we came--as we did
about once a week-.to solemn reso-
luton of this kind, Bony seemed to get
wind of it---perhaps through the me-
dium of his little friend, the chestnut
flly. He thereupon made such dis
play Of vigor rs to extort new lease Of
life.
The latest occasion of this kind was
when, after cold snap of several days
duration, Dony seemed triflc sitter In
the hind legs than was customary with
him. Using this symptom rs pretext,
we hardened our hearts once more, and
sentenced the old horse to death.
1t happened that on the day before
the one appointed for his taking off
there was sudden occasion to drive to
the railroad. AS no other horse was
conveniently at hand, I took Bony.
Now Bony, despite his age, and despite
that vast experience which he must have
had in his mysterious past life, was very
much afraid of the cars.
AS we approached the station train
was coming in. Bony's head went up in
the air, his long ears were pricked for
ward, he increased his speed to fast
trot; thence to gallop; and in trice
he had the bit in his teeth, or in some
other inaccessible spot, and was fairly
running away. 1t was ridiculous; it
was even little dangerous; but most
Of all 1t was heroic, magnificent. Final
ly, with much pulling and hauling,
brought the old fellow down to walk.
After this exploit there could be no
question of killing him. To destroy O
horse that had strength and spirit
enough to run away would be absurd.
Bony still stands in the stable; his
coat is smooth and glossy, and the fire
in his eye unquenched. I believe that
he will live to crop the grass which shall
grow upon my grave.-Youth's Com
panion.
Schubert wrote a number of pop.