Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1906-08-22

Il
fighting flies with his futile stump of
a tail, as obstinate white morseI of
horse-flesh as ever took a bit in his
| teeth, and, though so far from, his
colthood, still as full of fire as he had
| been in his best days. He greeted
his mistress by laying back his ears
and nipping at her sleeve, but she
understood him perfectly and only
said; None of your tricks, Billy"
AS she backed him between the thills
she added, apologetically: There,
boy; never mind! 1t amt far, an
you'll have grass for dinner, an oats.
| too, like enough"
Aunt Harriet had been quoted "a
saying that Billy only needed to be
managed" to be as good as any
horse" but his management was both
a science and an art. AS a science
its fundamental principle was Go by
contraries." When Aunt Harriet
planned to visit Franklin, which is
south of Centerville, she headed Billy
north, toward Brooks's Corners; but
| if she really intended to go to
Brooks Corners she faced him as if
| for Franklin. In the same way, if
| she wanted him to stand still, she
would give him a smart slap with the
lines and say, Cit up, Billy" and
Billy would brace himself as if to
say, Come one, come all; this rock
! shall fly" etc. But when ready to
! go she had only to pull on the reins
and say, soothingly, whoa, Billy;
whoa, boy" and Billy was off like the
wind. It seems simple, and so it
was in theory, but its application to
| special occasions was an art mastered
only by Aunt Harriet herself.
There was always row of interest
ed little boys on the fence to see
them start; but this particular morn
ing the event was more exciting than
! usual. Billy had not been driven for
several days, and Aunt Harriet had
! barely time to Chamber into the seat
and sieze the line from the dashboard
when, with a backward leer of one
! dim old eye and prolonged neigh,
ne gave lInge forward and, turn
| ing so short circle that the two out
side wheels were lifted clear of the
! ground, tore off like mad, strictly &C
cording to rule, in the direction OPP
| pOsite to the one toward which he had
| been headed.
1t was perfect day in midsummer
and his driver was too content to be
! tried by his Vagaries. The daises
nodded to her gaily and the bee hum
in he
men in the hay field by the side of
the road were sharpening the knives
of their moving machine and a saucy
bobolink perched on a fence post and
| tWee-twee-tweed" at them before 60
! ing off in very riot of glee Billy
himself gave another little kick with
| one hind foot, and his mistress in
advertently said whoa, there" at
which he put down his head and ran
till he was forced to stop to take
| breath
Dear suz!" chuckled Aunt Harriet
what a fool you be, Billy" Then
she leaned back and gave herself up
to the pleasure of the ride.
Half a mile from Centervilla the
/
railroad and the morning train for
Franklin was due at that point ten
J minutes after Aunt Harriet started
from home. Whether she had en-
tirely forgotten this, whether she had
miscalculated, or whether Billy's squirt
brought them to the crossing sooner
than she expected no one ever knew;
| ic rfoin no he
jogging cOntentedly along, humming
her favorite hymn and occasionally
fiicking a fly from Billy's side, she
was suddenly aroused by a roar,
changing bell and shrieking whistle.
She leaned out Of the carryall to see
what was the matter, and there, not
ten rods away, it's pistons pounding,
its pOnderous wheels grinding, it's
employees frantically waving and COM
ing as if racing with them to see which
would reach the crossing first, was
the express.
Now, according to her own under
standing of Billy, there was but one
logical thing to do. She should have
slapped him with the lines, give him
{" SAcR4 zip Will CuS whip anu SnOdC-
ed "Git up!" What would have hap
pened had she done so is a problem
in pure speculation. AS matter of
fact, she did nothing of the sort. In
her terror Billy's idiosyncrasy was
quite forgotten, and she reverted TO
the usual course of procedure under
such circumstances-th is, she pull
ed, whoa! Whoa, there, Billy! Whoa,
there! Whoa!" while Billy, consist
ent to the death, threw up his head
kicked Up his heels, gave a triumphant
flourish of his stump of tail, as If
to say, "All right, Aunt Hattie; We'll
try it, and made straight for the ap-
preaching train.
TN