Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1907-07-17

"a Grabbed the Rein
"Oh. say. grandpa said Dickie,
and his head was buried so deeply in
a big old trunk in the barn that only
a pair OF sprawly legs and two long
feet hanging on TO q nail in the floor
by the toes, and a dusty trouser seat
could be seen.
oh, say, grandpa, here's two of
the dandiest pairs of cows horns with
little brass balls on them. Only three
Of them look as if they had been
broken off. Can / have 'em, grandpa
l asked first"
cant l have one pair, grandpa?'
begged voice from another corner,
then red-faced boy appeared.
Let me see Them said grandpa.
why, they are old Bucks and Brides
horns. No, | guess I'll keep them a
little while longer. Upon my word,
Id forgotten about them
But. boys, l can tell you a real
good story about Them" he added.
When? when grandpa? Now; will
you" And Dickie swept off a clean
place on bench with the sleeve of
his coat
We'll, suppose we wait until after
supper. Thatll be a good time and
l can think about it little"
So in the early evening-the time
for story-telling-gran sat down
before the fireplace, with a boy on
each side of him. Each lad had a
stick and jackknife, whiting.
'"Well, to begin at the beginning
said grandpa, when | was a little
boy we didn't have as many horses
in our part of the country as there
are now. But we used oxen, which
are Just as strong and sometimes as
swift as horses. Though usually they
are slow. | guess you have not seen
them very often. They are fastened
together by a wooden yoke and driven
by rein sometimes, but oftener con
trolled by person merely speaking
and cracking a whip.
Father gave me a pair of young
ones, black and white. and said | was
to train them. l was much pleased
and made up my mind that they would
be the best team in the country. /
named them Buck and Bride | was
always gentle and never abused them.
and soon they grew TO love me and
would do anything l told them TO.
One day ] took them to be shod.
An OK, you know, has a split hoof.
| like COW, and so each foot must
have two shoes. That makes eight
! shoes TO an OK, doesn't it? | must
| tell you how they shoe oxen. as it
| is very different from shoeing a horse.
The OK is first led into a frame about
| three feet wide. which is built of
strong timber. with a floor in it, Two
! heavy poles push mp on each side of
the oX's shoulders. holding him firm;
then two more just back of his horns.
! TO which ropes are attached. and
these hold his head and shoulders per-
! fectly still. Two broad leather bands.
| fastened loosely to poles as high as
/ the OX's back. are next passed under
| his body, and hook on the other side
| TO another pole. These poles are
! turned around. shortening the bands
until the OK is raised off his feet The
/ feet are then TOpcd back. hoof up-
wards TO other poles. and tied tightly
! so they cannot move. The blacksmith
/ IS then able TO nail the shoes on
! quickly. without being bothered by the
animals struggles
| Buck and Bride could 20 so much
/ better after they had been shod. as
they did not slip in going over the
! rough roads ice and melting snow
made it very slippery. and one had to
/ drive with great care.
One day. along in April. father
was choppiug with a very sharp ak.
/ and It slipped and cut a cash i'm his
| leg. The blood spurted high and we
both knew that ne had cut an artery.
| Together We managed 10 bind il IN
| above the wound and stop the blood
flowing, but father was dreadfulIy
/ weak
You must get me down to DR.
Meads right away" he said. So 7
managed to partly carry him TO the
sleigh and wrap a blanket around
him. He held the stick with which
we had twisted the bandages around
his leg, and ! drove. We started pref.
" fast, but ] had good control of the
oxen, so ! didn't care But Just al
a turning point in the rood heard a
noise and looked back. Eather was