The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1920-06-24
TRIBUTE 10 THE BRAVE.
Horse Was q Hero and Soldier Show
ed Appreciation.

z sound"
& The cold rain and the biting north
east wind did not add to the appear
ance of Number 20, as she stood, de-
jected listless with head dropping IN
the center Of the farmers and horse
dealers who were attending the sale
Of cast off army horses. She looked as
though she realized that her day nad
waned and that the bright steel WORK.
the soft well creased leather. the
snowy head-rope. and the shining
curb were to be put aside for less
noble trappings.
M She had curiously shaped white
i blaze. and / think It was that, added
{ to the description Of her blindness,
which stirred my memory within me.
: I closed my eyes for second and 1t
All Game back to me me, the gun stuck
I'm the mud. the men straining ct the
wheel the shells bursting, the reek
OF high explosive, the two leaders ly-
(; ing dead on the road, and, above, all,
two gallant horses doing the work Of
) four and pxlin till you'd think
their hearts would burst.
81 I stepped forward and, looking
closer at the mares neck found what
I had expected, q great scar. That
settled 1t. i approached the auctioneer
! and asked p permission to speak to the
crowd for q few moments.
.Well," said he, .i'I'm supposed to
do the talking here, you know
{ tIt won't do, you any HARM" /
pleaded, "and it will give me chance
to pay off big debt" T
Right" he said, smiling; Garry
on"
y gentlemen" said, "about this
time year ago / was commanding
q battery in France. 1t was during
I the bad days, and we were falling
back with the Huns pressing hard
upon us. My guns had been firing all
the morning from a sunken road,
when we got orders to timber up and
( get back to a rear position. We hadn't
had bad time till then, few odd
shells, but nothing that was meant
specially for our benefit. And then,
Just as we were getting away, they
spotted us. and battery opened on
us good and strong. By a mixture
of. good luck and great effort we'd got
all the guns away, but one, when a
shell landed just in front of the lead
ers and knocked them both out with
their driver; at the same time the
-sgun was jerked off the road into a
muddy ditch. Almost simultaneously
I another shell killed one OF the wheel
ers, and there we were with one horse
left to get the gun out of the ditch
and along road that was almost as
) bad as the ditch.
at looked hopeless, and it was on
the tip of my tongue 10 give orders to
abandon the gun. when suddenly out
3 OF the blue there appeared on the
bank above US a horse, looking un-
concernedly down at US.
"In those days, loose horses were
straying all over the country, and I
took this to be one from another
battery which had come to us for
z company.
81 turned to one. of the men. "Catch
that mare quick
.In a few minutes we had the
harness off the dead wheeler and on
the newcomer. Pull? Gentlemen, IL
you could have seen those two horses
pull!
!. t.swe'd Just got a move on the gun
( when another shell came and seemed
q to burst right on top Of the strange
mare. heard a terrified sQueal, and
through the smoke / saw her stagger
and with mighty effort recover her
self. 7 run round and saw she'd been
badly bit over the eye and had a
great tearing cash in the neck. We
never, thought she could 60 on, but
she pulled away just the same, with
the blood pouring off her, till finally
we got the gun off and down the road
to safety.
.T got knocked out a few minu-
4 ties later, and from that day to this
I've often wondered what had hap
penef to the mare that had served US
30 gallantly. I know now. There she
stands before you. I'd know her out
OF q thousand by the white blaze;
and If there was a doubt there's her
blind eye and the scar on her neck
ssThat's all. gentlemen; but Pm go
ing to ask the man who buys her to
remember her story and to see that
her last days are not too hard"
She fell at a good price 10 splen-
did type of West Country farmer and
the auctioneer whispered 10 me. I'm
glad old Carey's got her. There's not
q man in the county who keeps his
horses better"
NOld Carey came up to me as we
were moving off. 81, had son IN
France" he said, "in the gunners,
too but he hadn't the luck Of the old
mare''-he hesitated a moment and
his old eyes looked steadily into mine
for he'll never come back. The
.Smare'il be all right sir,' he went on
as he walked off, "easy work and
full ratiops. I reckon she's earned
them"
THE TOBACCO HORN WORM.