The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-05-18


| then in one OF her mildest moods. l
| thought il safer, however, not TO let
my friend cnted the loose-box, so We
stood watching her over the door
The doctor had pretty taste I'm
| horse-nesh, and admired Sulphur Match
| immensely. But I'm the course of his
| remarks he quite startled me by say
| ing:
do you know. old man. that mare
| has a jolly rum expression. Very fanil-
| liar To me, too--in human bangs. Bue
| I've never seen IL in q brute beast be-
| fore"
why? What do you notice I'm her
| expression?' l asked.
Curious, isn't it?" he replied. "But
| she has just the look that j see every
| day I'm our melancholia patients. III
man or woman with that expression OF
| face came into our hands he or she
would precious soon be relegated To the
| padded rooms: for we should know at
| a glance that II was an acute case, and
| that the patient might at any minute
\ become dangerous TO himself and
| others"
"Do-do-you suggest that the mare
| is-is-suffering from melancholia?" 1
| exclaimed
| lie burst out laughing.
mot much, old man. Animals don't
| get melancholia, you bet. That Is
monopoly of the human species No, L
was only struck by the coincidence OF
the expression. that's all.
Hearing "A noise i'm our ear at that
moment | turned round. Lively was
stading close behind me-almost at my
elbow.
What's that hms laughing at the
mare about, gaffer?" he asked me, half
fiercely.
Nothing, Lively. fnly Joke" 1
! said
m - n
the idiot. with flash OF indgna don,
Ito crack his jokes at one whom the
Lords afflicted She's Gods fool, / tell
zee, just as i am. And Godll pay them
out as turns either on us inter ridicule."
Then. pushing past me. he opened
the door OF the loose box and went up
10 the mare. in whose name he hid his
face, muttering 10 her incoherent words
OF endearment.
"A softly, eh?" murmured my COM
panion, as we turned away.
l nodded.
Poor chap" he said. Wonderful,
amt Il, how these half-witted crea-
lures make friends with animals? De-
voted 10 the mare, evidently. Thought
1 was insulting her"
He regards her as a comrade In af-
fiiction." / said
Yes? Strange fancies these imbeciles
take into their heads, All well. my
| boy. you and | may be thankful that
we have our proper wits"
And then We fell TO talking OF other
matters. But l did not forget what had
passed. Indeed, / was more impressed
by il than / should have care to- admit,
And / think l. was reasonably impressed,
The mares incomprehensible moods
daft Iively's earnest conviction that
she was mentally affiicted-my medical
friends casual. yet spontaneous, re-
marks about the expression of her face:
none OF these, taken by Itself, need
have gone for much. But when all CO.
incided i'm pointing To the same conclu-
sion IL was enough 10 make even so
rational "a man as myself hesitate be-
fore rejecting that conclusion as fatu-
Gus.
Yet pshawil What a conclusion,
OF course, there are cases of mad
horses, Just as there are OF mad dogs,
mad bulls. or mad elephants. But such
madness is simply physical disease;
invariably ending in the speedy death
OF the victim. This. however, was an
other story. II practically amounted to
this: that the mare was suffering from
a deranged reason: that, in fact, she
was out of her mind. yet had, like any
human maniac. her lucid intervals.
Equine melancholia, now? Who ever
heard of that? Ii was impossible.
Was IL? .
However. / did not mention my spe-
culation either To Mr.. Walker Smith or
To any one else. There was nothing 10
be gained by it, except the doubtful ad-
vantage OF getting myself laughed at
for a fool. But i watched sulphur
Match more and more closely; and the
more | observed her. the more | began
To feel that the notion OF melancholia
i'm regard to her was not. at any rate
so absurd a thing as to bet set aside
with careless ridcule. / could see now
what / had not noticed particularly un-
til my friend called my attention to il
the utterly depressed and spiritless
look in the mares eyes, which never
varied their expression, except TO flash
and roll wildly in her occasional pa
roxysms OF rage.
Mr. Walker Smith and happened to
be watching her one Gay at this time,
when she was rampaging about her
box in a violent tantrum, and he said TO
me:
II hope to goodness the mare won't
do to herself what her dam. Wax YES
Ia, did"
WHAT'S thatg' / asked.
Don't you know? Why, she was
subject to these fits Of fury. just as her
daughter is And one day she had IL
50 bad that she tried TO kick down the
wall of the stable and went at It with
such violence that she damaged herself
fatally and had 20 be shot"
Good gracious. Then It's in the
blood" | remarked.
Yes; worse luck" was the reply.
And Wax Nesta's dam. also--from
what I can hear-had such a devil Of
temper that. at times-especially when
she was near foaling-no one dared ap-
proach her. Steady there,
Steady there. confound you! Do you
want 10 kick yourself, like your mother
into kingdom Gomez
We'll the time went on and the date
OF the EPSON meeting grew near. | had
the mare very fit as far as her physi-
cal condition went; and | entertained
y certain amount OF hope that she
might do some good I'm the handicap.
But now occurred the untoward cir
cumstance Oo which | alluded at the
outseD that Knocked all that on the
head.
IL was four days before the race.
had happened 20 notice a slight swell
ing the nerest tritlc-on the mares