The Savannah morning news., 1902-02-23


tanning themselves one summer even
ing in 1898. The story about a Won
derful horse was generally admitted to
be good one, too good in fact to be
accepted as truth. AS the horse was
in a neighboring town, arrangements
were made for private exhibition, and
if the horse could prove the story true,
the doubling members of the party
were to pay for a dinner, whereas if
the horse failed to perform feats cor
responding with the story, the narra-
tor was to pay the expenses of the meal
and trip. The doctor insisted that the
horse could do everything but talk
and he said that he would not be sur
pr;sed any day to hear that it had
actually learned to converse in French.
II know the man, Jim McGrogan,
who raised the colt" the doctor had
said. She is a handsome creature
graceful, intelligent, clean limbed and
as pretty as a picture, but stubborn
and wilful. Her name is Lady Hope,
and although now about 10 years old,
McGrogan still commonly speaks Of
her as the colt"
"McGrogan is about go years of age,
and from childhood has been lover
of horses. He must be an ideal train
er, for he is gentle, calm and good-nat-
natured, reasonable, courageous and
firm; a man we'll liked, and everybody
in Patterson knows McGrogan and the
colt McGrogan was as determined
as the colt was stubborn. and this
combination of circumstances resulted
in the colts first trick; this accom-
pliShed, another was undertaken and
another, until the colt understood per-
fectly every word her master said, and,
moreover. had learned that his word
was law, and her easiest way was to
obey promptly and cheerfully. All this
was accomplished without striking her
a severe blow. When young she
showed considerable racing ability, and
several times good prices were offered
for her, but you were quite as likely to
buy McGrogan's children as the colt F"
When we reached the stable the af-
ternoon of the exhibition it was plain
to see that Hope knew her masters
step and turned her head to gree him,
while his first act was to pat her-the
performance commenced right there.
Scarcely raising his voice at all, but
speaking as one person speaks to an
other, McGrogan said. Go out in the
yard, Hope. "and without hesitation the
bolt in the box stall was drawn and
Hope stepped out into the yard, where
she waited for her next order which
was to "cut the figure eight" This
was done by describing one portion of
the figure by moving one of her fore
feet, to trace the upper half of the fig
ure and one of her. hind feet to trace
the other half, showing that she knew
the figure at sight Some of the COM
mands were given when her masters
wi
ing future acts of the entertainment
plainly indicating that the animal I'M
derstood what her master was talking
about and that no secret or trick was
INDUCED in. The lesson in arithmetic
concluded with 1.-The colt" counting va
riOus numbers, two, five and six, by
tapping the ground lightly the proper
number of times. either with her fore
or hind foot, as commanded. 1.-TWO and
two are how many, Hope?' Almost in
stantly four taps we're given, and va
rious problems in addition and sub
traction We're correctly answered in the
same way. Just at this point "the colt
seemed uneasy, and calling for a glass
of water, the master dropped a lump
of sugar in it, handed it to, Hope, who
held ii carefully between her teeth and
drained the contents without spilling
d drop, politely returning the glass to
IlcI owner WITH a DOW.
Laugh, Hope!" Immediately the
mare threw down her head, rolled back
her upper lip, keeping it moving up
and down, showing her teeth in a way
that really gave the animal laughing
expression. A handkerchief was then
tossed to her several times, and each
time she caught it with her teeth, fol-
lowing her master about to return it.
quite as dog retrieves. The handker-
chief was tied about her fore leg, and
again about her hind leg, and at the
word OF command was promptly united
with her teeth. The handkerchief was
then tightly tied about the stump of
her tail and the mare ordered to unite
1t. 1t seemed impossible for her to
make both ends meet, but by throwing
her head as far toward her tail as pos
sible and working her hind legs for
forward, then evidently calculating how
much Of an additional eff
fort was necessary, and at
the same time taking aim at the
handkerchief. with great quockness she
plunged with each end OF her body and
the knot was caught and undone in
an instant.
In quite the same way as the order
would be given to "A boy, Hope was
instructed TO bring a pail obeying in
an off-hand manner, entering the sta
PIE ana returning promptly, dropped
the bucket at her masters feet 'FilI
~" and the pail was placed under the
pump, and handle grasped I'm her teeth
and vigorously worked up and down
until the pail was filled.
few weeks previous to this time a
faucet had been placed In the stable.
when the water was first put into the
barn" said McGrogan. Hope was
puzzled. drew a pailful without let
ting her see how II was done, and the
next morning told her 20 help herself.
She knew the water was there, and
tried her best 10 ind something 20
pump with on this tangled ar
ranRement II was really iauRhable
until the colt understanding that I
was teasing her. began 90 lose her tenn
per. ! showed her how the faucet
worked, and she quickly understood.
though ~ took some time 20 explain
that uaiike "a pump. the faucet had
~ BE- turned on d"
Hope was again IN the yard. and Nee
or0Han was whispering 10 her the
spectators being unable 90 hear what
hs aatd The mare walked about un-
Couofrnefiy. finally efspDinF %
quiri1y 70 one 81 fhs parry. snatch
lnF ne haf in hsT teeth, fr0ftsd ~ fer
master With a. 49, me greet amuss-
msnf - ~ 700 poe d back ang
fhank hlmi" Ths aas va dropped ~