The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1907-05-08

carele.s sleeping habits Of her kind,
WHICH. resulted in grass stains here
and there upon her hide, and patches
Of baked mud
My father had lately acquired her
in the place of debt that had
seemed dubious.
She was an abnormally constructed
COW, with what ARENAS Ward would
have called long "style of architec-
ture." Long legs, long horns, and a
tail SO long that if it had not been
for a peculiar bend next the body, the
brush end would have swept the
ground.
Now, you want to beware, al
ways there are no exceptions to
thisR rlt1e- COW with a bent
poker attachment connecting her tail
with her body, particularly if she
wears the rest of it's length hanging
straight down. You may be sure that
is the only straight thing in her
makeup. If you have occasion to
milk her don't forget this.
Not that Lily held her tail agrees
slvely. 1t had an air rather detected
that otherwise, while her meek eyes,
half shut, and long horns absurdly
wide apart, gave her an apologize,
almost an appealing expression, which
was altogether misleading.
Now, had to milk her, and ex-
perience had taught me that if ever
a COW was born with an evil spirit,
that COW was Lily. I could tell by
the hang Of her tail when she meant
mischief. If it hung straight and
limp from the. bend, [ took care to
perch myself on the stool with a view
to sudden changes of position. True,
my premonitions, though always to
be depended upon for the climax,
never taught me when to expect it.
1t was clear that Lily had scheme
Of her own on which she relied with
perfect confidence, for my undoing.
I tried to figure it out on some system
Of astronomical mathematics, recur-
renee Of comets, or the like, but
while was puzzling with calculations
she generally announced hers by cas-
ually putting her foot in the foam
ing bucket and giving me a blind
ing switch in the eyes with that dia-
bollcal tail. She always contr1ved,
too, to get the brush end in the milk,
somehow, before she tapped it over
me, knocking my cap off my head,
and me off the stool into the milk she
had tipped over.
was not allowed to punish her.
My father was at the head of the
to animals" allowed on his premises
In justice to him [ must own that
he gave me plenty Of time to win
Lily by gentle treatment, and the lost
milk, SO far, had brought nothing but
circumstances, more or less lively, &C
cording to his mood. But he was
beginning to prophesy concerning
events that might be expected to take
place in the near future, if I didn't
come to a better understanding with
the COW. This disheartened me, be-
cause | saw no way of promoting
such an understanding. How is a
boy going to comprehend ''pure cuss-
edness' from cows point Of view ?
And | knew this was what allied her,
instead of "fies' and "coincidences, .
as my father declared
One evening [ carried out my buck
ct and stepped up along side of
the old sinner [ was feeling pretty
good, for I'd just been trading jack
knives with one Of the fellows, and
had the best end Of the bargain
warming my pocket Naturally I
was disposed to think the best I
could, even Of Lily, and she looked
meek enough to have fooled Solomon
himself. Anyway, she fooled me and
rather threw me off my guard. Not
that | ever gained anything by being
on my guard, except certain self
respect