The Monitor-register., 1896-05-01

TO Decline such a swate invitation. Init
Mr.. o~'Flaherty, the grocery man on the
corner. keeps his horse in me stable; and
ne might like to have his beast 20 IL your
parfy's not made up, ma'am."
80 Miss Fanny had five acceptances.
ana she was now to make the sixth sell &c.
ton from the highways and the byvays.
one went downtown on some errands.
looking carefully at every horse until
people fancied her an agent Of the s. p.
U. A., spying for check reins and curb
bits.
ene saw many neglects and cruelties
that made her tender heart bleed and long
70 turn the city into a municipality of
the Houyhnhnms that men might feel
what they inflict upon their brute sarv.
itors.
7 Ii she had not been shy Of asking a
stranger for his most valuable cbattel abe
would have invited the majority of the
horses she met. On her way to take the
nomeward cars, yet undecided as to her
sixth guest, she stopped to let an ashman
drive out of an alley,
"OP ashmanP he was calling. {,
ashman goin' away. Eff you want oil,
ashman, git him now; OIL ashman poin,
away!"
There was not much haste in the ash.
mans departure; in fact, there could not
De. The wagon wheels converged. and
hung loosely on their axles, the WAGONS
weather beaten body was scanned with
rusty wire, the harness tied with bits Of
string and leather, that looked to he
leavings from a cobbler's bench.
The old gray mare herself was the
embodiment of all the equine woes anv
biondello could enumerate; sprained.
CALLED, sprung at the knees, with a lame
fore foot, and somewhere a loose shoe.
the poor beast seemed hardly able to
proceed.
A piece of sacking hung over her "a
protection for her ribbed and discolored
sides against the flies. Her weak eyes
blinked in the sun; but she held her head
almost proudly, and as she stumbled
along with the blinking shoe and the
lame foot. two long white ostrich plumes.
relics from some Knight Templsr
chapeau. inserted in the animals head.
gear, waved with the motion of her gait.
The old negro had discovered these
treasures among back-gate rubbish, and
with them had bestowed decoration upon
the faithful lady who had SO long served
him. No prince ever gave a sword. tap
more complacently, no knight ever
received it more proudly.
"Howdy, Miss" said the negro. a.
Miss Fanny halted to let him bass.
"Want any ashes taken out 70. day ?"
Age had whitened his wool and nut a
gray glaze upon his African skin. The
creases of his faded Army cloak were
filled with ashen dust. He smiled engag-
ingly, hopeful of another dime.
NO. she answered; 81 have no ashes
to be taken away. I live out in the
country. But stop. Won't you let your
horse come to a picnic at my house next
Sunday ?"
Tee heel tee-hee," the old man
cackled. "a horse pic-er-nicI What
moughtn't folks have
quanGyI uo5 Yum Nam . JUS IN 'portunity,
Judy. Well, Miss, where mought the
pic.er-nic be? Eff theirs any ticket to
pay, Judy'll be fohced to stay erway;
fohs he cramped en- her p~ocketbook jes'
fob q time"
Miss Fanny explained the object of her
picnic.
Swell fob q fac!" said the old
"Dat'l be er fine pic.,r-nicl Judy en-
NELL be thar Saturday night, sholy. You
deferred to yoh man what would drive
her out; but Judy amt used to nobody's
else's drivin', and she might take er
notion into her head to cut up Jeems
Johnson. I'll bring her on my W
responsibility. Good-ev'nin', Miss
good-ev'nin'."
Miss Fanny laid in a supply Of oats and
corn. She saw to it that her loaf sugar
boal was filled, and that the long unused
stalls in the barns were we'll bedded.
Nelly vas directed to treat the guests
with courtesy.
Saturday night after working hours
we're over, Jerry and his brother drove
the company out from town. Miss Fanny
was IN the piazza to watch their
entrance.
"Dear me, it looks quite like the Horse
Fairl" she cried. I hope they won't
quarrel or get hurt. Jerry is going to
give each of them a good feed and curry
ing, and put them in the barn tonight"
she explained to her father, "and to-
morrow they will be let into the pasture.
l wonder il Judy will appear"
judy arrived late, for she could but
step slowly out of town. Her master
humbly expected as much welcome as his
horse and ensonced himself snugly in the
kitchen quarters. snake him comfort
able also," commanded Miss Fanny.
At dawn the next morning Nelly and
her guests were out into the meadow
pasture, burdenless, bridleless. with more
liberty to wander than they had been
~vouchsafed since the days of their colt
hood. They hardly seemed to realize
what freedom meant; and Dick was the
only one, snuffing the morning air,
kicked up his heels and galloped the
length of the meadow.
Miss Fanny found them all nibbling, In
a little, contented fraternal circle, at the
dew.spangled clover, careless of the
various stations in life which they occu-
pied as city residents.
Nelly did the honors of her pasture,
guiding her companions to the sweetest
clover, the tenderest heritage. Showing
them how to rub themselves against the
rail- fence, nosiag her fallen fruit under
the apple tree, encouraging Prince to
regard the buzz of the electric cars as
nothing more annoying than a fly would
be, and working them all gradually down
the pasture, 80 that at noon, when the
sun lay hot upon the slopes, the seven
horses-gray chestnut, black and n
o n of them in their best days. stood in
a happy group, under the shade Of the
oaks, dipping their noses deep into the
cool spring water, LAYING their feet in it's
running brown reaches.
Suddenly Judy, who had followed in
the wake of the others as q dependent
knowing how to keep her place, lay
down in an ungainly heap amid the lush
grass along the bank Of the run and