The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-07-07
A WIDOWS
OLD HORSE
BY M. QUAD
Copyright, 1911 by Associated Lit
erary Press.

4 was Ill tON ii, anu SLIT lOuuo nOl
auction going on. The last of the
bunch to be put up was an old gray
mare. She was skin and bone and
then some more. The aucdoneer did
not slander her character when he
called her an old skate.
There was a general laugh Ut con
tempt over the old mare. ana then
some one bid 81. Out of pure sym
pathy the widow bid a dolar more.
/ and the nag was hers. She was Cuved
by the crowd. but the prize WAS nltcn
ed behind the wagon and reached the
farm in due time without having once
fallen by the wayside. There were
two hired men to grin and chuckle and
talk about crow banquets. but the wo-
man silenced them with:
"Get along, you idiotsi Turn that
horse out to grass and take good care
Of her. II she dies her hide will be
worth all I paid for her whole body"
This was early in the spring. When
the old mare began to fill up she began
to improve. In a month her ribs could
no longer be counted from the high
way, and she began to gambol a bit. 1t
was when another horse was turned
into the lot with her Of a Sunday that
the surprise came. One of the men
came up to the house and said to Mrs.
| Saunderson:
Say. you come down to the fence
! and see that old marep'
Dead. Is sheT'
"DeadI Why, she's the liveliest old
nag you ever set eyes on! Come
DOWN."
| The two horses were having a play.
1t was q ten acre meadow, and they
were circling it The farm horse was
on the gallop and the old mare on
the trot, and yet he could not leave
her behind.
"She got that gait before sulky for
sure," said the man
Looks like it to me-" replied the
widow. After this you feed her a
few oats every day and use the curry
comb. and don't either one of you boys
say a word outside"
! The Akron county fair. always held
late in September. ranked next to the
state fair. Some said the horse racing
was even better. because the track
was better. When the opening of the
entries was announced the Widow
Saunderson said to one of her men:
Joe. here's the money to enter Lady
Gray. You can claim to be the owner.
You go over to Johnsonville and bor-
row or buy a sulky and get 1t here on
the sly. The old mare is going into
the free for all. and you are going to
drive her,"
And few days later she said to the
other man:
Tim, here is a hundred dollars.
You go to town and loaf around for
two or three days. Bet the money on
our horse. Get the best odds you can"
/ When day and date came they boot
ed the Widows hired man and his
equine They had bet 8 to ! before,
now they bet Is to l. The widow mad
$500 in the bank. She drew every
dollar of it out, and Tim placed 1t on
the mare.
That was a race that is talked OF
yet. A green driver, an old sulky ana
farm horse. AS soon as the mare
got on to the track her actions betray-
ed the fact that it was a familiar
scene to her, and her driver had the
sense to let her take her own way in
stead of hauling her about. When the
bunch got away at last he simply held
his horse steady and prayed with all
his might She had gone some" on
the highway, but she seemed to be fly.
ing now. She picked up horse after
horse until she had the lead. and she
came in winner by such a distance
that the other horses were hooted off
the track. Not skip, not a break
just a fast and steady pace, and a
driver who was so scared that be had
to be helped down from his seat
The roll of money gathered in by the
Widow Saunderson on her wagers and
by the sale of the mare after the race
was exactly the size of fifteen cent
tomato can. With the bundle in pill
lowslip she called on the minister Of
her church few days later and said:
"Parson, know you have figured
things up. How much to paint the
meeting house"
"A hundred and fifty dollars" he re-
piled.
"And how much for pew cushions?"
"a hundred"
"And for the red carpets in the
atslesT
FIFTY will do It"
"And can't we get an organ for
$5O0T"
I'VE certainly can"
"And bellr
1.-TWO hundred"
"And how much salary is due your
"Well-ahem-well, don't like to
say so, but the sum is about $500"
"F1gure 1t up and count 1t out, par
son." said the widow as she handed
over the tomato can"
"But, widow. don't understand"
"Won it at the county fair the other
day"
'Then l can't take It 1t is tainted
money"