Oxford Democrat., 1906-11-13

Wien Dan 20. his number they were
quite ready for the hoaeward dash.
1t was altogether too heavy work for
high bred hackneys, Of course. Mr..
Jerry pointed tLis out. but to no Use.
Mrs. Jerry asked pertinently what good
horses We're IL not to be used. No. she
wanted no livery teams for the night
work. When she rode she wished to
ride behind Topsy and Bonfire. They
were her horses, anyway. She would
do as she pleased. And she did.
Summer brought neither rest nor re
lief. Early in July horses, servants and
carriages would be shipped off to New
,ort OF Saratoga, there to begin again
the unceasing whirl And fly time to q
(ocktailed horse is season OF tor
ment.
or Mrs. Jerry, who had once reused
the Garden for his sake, Bonfire caught
but gllmpses. After that first day,
when he was a novelty, he heard no
more compliments, received no more
pats from her gloved hands. But OF
slight or neglect Bonfire knew nothing.
He curved his neck and threw his hoofs
high, whether his muscles ached or no;
in winter he stamped to keep warm,
in summer to dislodse the flies; he did
his work faithfully, early or late, In
cold and In heat; and all this because
he was son Of Sir Bardolph and for
the reason that it was his nature to.
Had it been put upon him he would
have worked In harness until he
dropped, prancing his best to the last.
No supreme test, however, was ever
brought to the endurance and willing
ness Of Bonfire. They just kept him
on the pole, nerves tense, muscles
strained. until he began to lose form.
His action no longer had that grace
and abandon which so pleased Mrs.
Jerry when she first saw him. Long
standing in the cold numbs the mus
cles. 1t robs the legs of their spring.
Sudden starts, such as are made when
you are called from line after an hours
waiting, finish the business. Try as he
might, Bonfire could not step SO high,
could not carry perfect crest His
neck had lost its roundness; In bis
rump a crease had appeared.
10 Dan also came tribulation Of his
own making. He carried fat brown
flask under the box, and there were
times when his driving was more a
matter Of muscular habit than Of men-
tai acuteness. Twice he was threaten
ed with discharge and twice he solemn.
" promised reform. At last the inev.
liable happened. Dan came one morn
ing to Bontire's stall, very sober and
very sad. He patted Bonfire and said
goodby. Then he disappeared.
Less than week later two young
hackneys, plump Of neck, round Of
quarter, springy Of knee and hook,
were brought to the stable. Bonfire
and Topsy were led out Of their old
stalls to return no more. They had
been worn out in the service and cast
aside like pair Of old gloves.
Then did Bonfire enter upon a period
of existence in which box stalls, crest
ed quarter blankets, rubber tired
wheels and liveried drivers had no
part. It was varied existence, filled
with toll and hardship and abuse; an
existence for which the cOddling one
gets at Lochlynne farm is no ft prep |
aration.
-
Just where Broadway crosses Sixth
avenue at Thirty-third street Is to be
found q dingy, triangular little park
plot In which few gas stunted, smoke
stained trees make brave attempt to
keep alive. On two sides Of the tri-
angle surface cars whirl restlessly,
while overhead the elevated trains rat
tie and shrek. This part Of the me-
tropolIs knows little difference be.
tween day and night for the cars nev-
er cease, the arc lights blaze from dusk
until dawn and the pavements are nev-
er wholly empty.
Locally the section is sometimes call
ed 1.-The cabman's graveyard" During
any hour of the twenty-fOur you may
find waiting along the curb line Of
public carriages. By day you will
sometimes see smartly kept hansoms,
we'll groomed horses and drivers In
neat livery.
But at night the character Of the line
changes. The carriages are mostly
one horse closed cabs, rickety rs to
wheels, with torn and faded cushions,
license numbers obscured by various
devices and rate cards always miss
Ing. The horses are dIlapidated, too,
and the drivers, whom you will gener-
ully find nodding on the box or sound
asleep inside their cabs, harmonize
with their rigs.
These are the nighthawkers Of the
Tendcrloin. The name Is not an as.