The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1908-06-20


About mile or so from town Dan
pulled up for the night at a sheltered
place where there was plenty of grass.
After he had had his supper and the
horses had finished grazing he fasten.
ed the four, two at each end Of the
wagon, then crawled in and rolled up
in his blankets. The weather was
just cool enough to discourage the at
lacks of the mosquitoes and other in.
sects, so the horses were quiet and
Dan soon fell asleep.
In the middle of the night he found
himself propped up on one elbow, halt
awake listening for something, he
knew not what At length he was
fully awakened by low whinny from
up the road Half suspiciously he
crawled to the back end of the wagon
and pushed aside the flap of the cover.
There. some thirty or forty rods up
the road silhouetted against the sky.
Dan saw the forms of the tall, lank
stranger and-Trilby. He sprang from
the wagon, uttering a shrill whistle.
Hardly had the notes reached Trilby's
4, ears till she reared up in the air and
gave tremendous lunge forward.
Whether from fright or surprise, the
stranger dropped the rope and ran.
which he had unconsciously picked up,
so he contented himself with conject-
uring as to what would have happen
ed had he been better armed.
Trilby came tearing down the road,
frightened at the curious proceedings
and urged on by the dangling rope,
which kept Ticking her breast and
chin. As she reached Dan she paus-
ed. blowing loudly, every muscle quiv.
ering with excitement. He removed
the halter, and as he stood stroking
her silky name concluded that she
had paid him well for the time he had
i'spent in training her.
From that time on Trilby had even
more care than before and became
even a greater pet This was inter-
rupted, however, when the fall after
she was five years old, Dan bought an
interest in a threshing outfit. Horses
were scarce and Dan was forced to
break Trilby in on the power. He
was q careful driver, however. and by
frequent changes soon had her doing
her share of the work.
During the next ten years Trilby
was on the power good share OF the
time, for Dan bought q well-drilling
outfit which re ran with it when he
was not threshing. Dan used to say
that she seemed to enjoy that work.
Anyhow it did not worry her, for she
was always sleek and fat.
One fall Dan and his partner bought
a steam engine-the first in that Sec
ti0n-to replace the old, wornout pow.
er. With the advent Of the engine
Trilby was given an honorable dis
| charge and turned into the large past
ure.
It was a sweltering hot day the first
! of September when the outfit was
started up for the trial run. The en-
CINE ran fine and the separator num-
med steadily until noon. After dinner,
Dan speeded up the engine, "just to
see what shed do" he said. 1t was
still and the dust hung over the sep
arator like a dense fog. One after
another the men sought the shade.
painting for breath, and hopping the
perspiration and dirt from their faces.
Finally Dan slowed down to the regu-
lar motion and thus they ran until
quitting time.
After the chores were finished, Dan
could not resist the temptation to take
an ear of corn down to Trilby. He
went down to the gate and sounded
her usual call. He repeated 1t sew
eral times but received no answer.
He thought that some accident had be-
fallen her, for he could not remember
a time when she had not answered his
call, even though she were on the
opposite side of the pasture. He con-
cluded that he would 60 down below
the groves, anyway, where he could
get view of the large part OF the
pasture There at the south edge he
saw Trilby lying stretched out. At
| first he thought she must be sick, and
not until he was within few feet
of her did the truth dawn upon him.
| She had heard the hum of the old
separator and it's familiar call had
seemed imperious to her. There. In
the grass, was a circle the exact size
| OF the one she used to travel in when
on the power. But the steady steam
engine, which needed no relay, mad
been more than a match for her.
She was dead!-Kansas Farmer.