The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-08-18
SANG ASTHE RUNAWAYS SPED.
sERRORs WEIRD EFFECT ON A
VIRGINIA DARBY.
A New yers Horne Buyer Tells q Q
DewnhIi Dash Beaind an ns-Matched
v.ir-Ho~ His Cempanisn Get Back
nj Him with Unconscious Eject.

IL ~ 49,
"a. with me" said the man who buys horses
,h.n they are green and sells them In the
Nes York market after they have been
.rboolod. Il don't believe that that last run
.wny I figured In would have made much
more enduring impression on my mind
han any 81 the others have Getting run
suay with. YOU see. In merely the routine
,ur Of nv business; In tsckline all sorts
a. equine propositions Il In inevitable that I
,souid be strcwn at pretty regular inter-
ul. over a section Of the landscape, and
after aftecn or twenty years nj Il a man IL
hound to get used 70 Il. But the darky
am telling about certainly relieved this
IA, little affair OF any monotony IL might
otbcrwise have Possessed. And another
odd feature in his particular runaway was
IA Il was not In tho way Of my regular
Su.inc-s a, all-was wholly gratuitou- and
so,ten up. you might say. 60 oblige a man
didn't even know.
1T took place down In one OF the middle
~oountie- Of Virginia where I had gone In
the hope Of picking up a few likely hunters
for some 81 my Northern customer. In
Richmond | had run across a three-quarter-
trd polo pony that had become mallet
shv. and ~ hc could he had for a mere song
bougt' him and decided To explore the
count-~ for hunters on horseback. | had
nii'" about seventy or eighty miles through
te won-out territory southwest Of Rich
20 without finding anything that suited
when | pulled up one night at a little placc
called Jackson. Ordinary. There was no
kotel IN the place. hut tho man who ran
The combination grocery store and Post
ofice put us-the pony ard myself up
for the night.
He was a gentle. courteous old man and
dd his best to entertain us. with no thought
OF remuneration. The next morning. how
ever, after he had refused 20 accept any
pay for our lodgings. he made the dis
covcry that one Of his two horses had been
taken with collie In the night and he asked
me after many profound apologies n It
would III possible for me to let him have
the use Of the pony for a couple Of hours.
There wa n load Of merchandise at the
railroad station In n n~eighboring town
consigned 20 him and unless he got IL out
that day ls would he compelled TO pay
storage ON u. With the pony md his one
remaining hor-e he could haul the entire
load at one trip In "A lumber wagon. An
Old darky who had been his fathers body
eryant and who had remained loyal to
bin. would 20 In for the stun and drive the
horses
In my two or three days Ownership Of
oibb@ that was the pony's name | had
become too well acquainted with his lido
syncracis- TO trust him alone with any darky
and 80 | consented TO the old mans request
only on condition that | should go with the
colored man and do the driving If nect~-
sary Gibbs was like all Of his breed. the
blood Of three generations Of equine airs
tocracy had not bred ont of him the one
quarter OF broncho lawle~sne-s and the
moment he was hooked up II became APP
parent that he was looking forward to an
old-fashioned field day. On the way into
the village he buck jumped out 81 the har-
ness on several occasions and deliberated
q number of times IN midair on the adj
Visibility ~ coming hack into the wagon
and riding with Us. but the odd marc beside
him was strong and level. headed and in
time We reached the railway station and
haded about a thousand pounds Of mixed
cargo into the lumbar wagon.
On the e'urn trip II was necessary
g. descend the longest and the st"epest
more than a deep cut down n mountain
SIDE. the banks we're 30 narrow that there
was only room for one vehicle on Tho hill
a. \ time and at the bottom 90 II the road
s"paraied- one branch leading across a
narrow unprotected bridge and tho other
into the pines. II the crest 81 the hill
tihhs's opportunity came: he did not over
hroE Il. A. ] showed the brake lever for
ward he gave one ~ hrs impromptu lung~s;
TIE rod broke, the wagon rolled onto his
books he gave another mad plunge IN
which tho mare joined. both lines parted
close 10 The hits and we ~er~ officially on.
u vas nitile TO wrestle with the plugging,
Tanic-slrcken team and the high narrow
banks and the character Of our cargo
made Il sheer madness 20 jump. That
miserable pony. | realized. had staked out
my httl" claim IN eternity and ] know II
r1lsi b" located somewhere just beyond
a." fork In the road. | was frightened
sc1r-d worse than ] ever had been before
or rope 20 I've sga,n-hu instead OF
spending IN. few remaining moments In
conten plating the orthodox panorama ~
PAST nisdeeds ] devoted all my tune In
q vain and iciou effort 70 transfer some
Of my terror TO the darsy.
Persons. I nav. heard. who are hsdlv
s'amn-de-d often develop some u form
Of 'y-t"fia. I presume ! took a selfish
AMI cfiS~ed pleasure ~ thc thought that !
va net the only one who Vas going TO
fetch up Ia n heap AZ the foot Of the hill.
A. The first plunge the dsrky had at
tempted TO Jump. but caught HIM 2
know where were going ] shouted. but
Wherever II Is we're going to arrive there
together The darky was gripping The
swaying wagon seat With both hands and
H. face had become a grayish purple.
Vas. sub he chartered hack. staring
straight before him and making no further
sttempt 20 jump. 'whAr cher is g~ine TO
b. wcsc wine git thor t'gethah-wcse
wine git thar t'grthah.'
hc neat instant We struck the crest OF
. thank yuu-mam and our cargo shifted
with a crash ! tried transferring more
fright Ia the darky Another u like
that and you land Ia Heaven with those
plough points IN your neck. jeercd.
Vas, sub, l'se gwine 90 Ian In Hetrcn
sid dem plough points In ma neck right
H. ma neck
Somehow or other ! seemed Co Get a lot
Of comfort out % the darky's cha,tcring
and as We swervcd around a
bend Ia the road | shouted nut; That tob-
tailed pony s-cms n little Scared
Vas. sub. came hack in mo. that rob
tai he ~~cms a hr skccrcd he suttinly
s-'ms a Nr skeered
Rui the fisht was too fasi: my fear gath
srd too rapidly Go ~ disseminated
duufsd tho broken ruins ! sttll held. hooked
ha'A FOR some placc la jump. and
hnIiug none dropp~d froin the seat and
curg tn tho wagon side. a. the negro ~a-
duTg Gibl~ and the msr- we've shorten
ins a. ev-ry jump the little span ths, r-rp-
ar4i~I n from III. claim he had -tak~d cut,
al took little Interest IN viev ing the
s-UstN o. "a. way We had both trrn
s-li fnr At icasi thirty s~~snds, when
~suii-nlv the darky. without any Ni-ii,le
rr.,Urailun, -iagg-r-f 80 his -~ai. rr~ird
O. a. ark - tran and cluichsd Wildly al
u -st rail Hi eyes rol'-d upSand. ihe