A VERY FRIENDLY HORSE. (Dalbury News)

Waikato Times, Issue 660, 12 August 1876, Page 3

A VERY FRIENDLY HORSE. (Dalbury News)

I don't really believe a ye'low horse is any wunc by nature t'mn a bay hurse, or a white hoise, or a horse of any color or combination of colour* ; but our ju Igment of tbin ;• in this world i» olten liable to be influenced by our prejudtc-s. For this r«»son, perhaps, I cann >t look wpou a yejlow horae with *ny feeling of delight. A yellow horse was itanding in the depot in Waslington the time I came down the Shepang road. Looking at the animal n be felt around caaual.y with his hind foot for his owner's brt>ina, my mind receded bacK to the house of mv childhood. It seemed so blessed to lean back in the seat, and with partly closed eyes give myself up to reveries retrospect ire. I remember quite distinctly tho day my parent brouglit homo a yelloir horse ; in f»ct, I can without much difficulty pick out any day of the eight which thab animnl patsed in our society. He was a comely beait, wi h long limbs, a straight body, und eyes th.t would rival those of an eagle in looking hungry. When he came into tii 3 >ard we all went out to loak at him. It was an evening, clear, bright, and beautiful. Vly parent stood near the well holding the »nimal by the halter. We had a dog, a black and white, and if there ever waa dog who thought he had a head stowed full of knowli dge, it was that dog. How plainly I can tee him approaci that yellow horse, to smell bin heela. He ouuht to have got more of a anvil than he did, considering that he lost the greater part of one ear in the attempt. It was done so quick that it is possib'e wo would not iiave known anything about it, had the dog not spoken of it himself. , He never smelt of thai yellow hor^e again. The flavor wasn't what ho had been use to, I think. Three diya later when ho was turning around, to speak to a flea on I. is tail, as is customary with dogs, that yellow horse un- xpectedly reached down, and took a mouthlull of spinal joints out of the dog's back, and the modification from be>ng thus caught preyed »o henvily upon tho dog's mind tbat he died in a minute or two. That evening mother interested fath« r with an account of Caper's death while he was waiting* for hrr to replace the collar the y. How horse thut afternoon had snatched from hit best coat. And thus time pnssed. But the home lost none of it. There wasn't a neighbour within half a mile of our house but bore some marks of that animal's fi-ymd-ship. Like death he was no re*p-c<or ol person?. He never stopp"d to ii qi re wh'ther » man iras worth a mi. lion follarsorten cents wheu reaching forh m. He muy h ye hsd 'Oice curio-ity ab'.ut. it afterwards, but he never obowed if. Finally peop'o cam» to avoid him wb n the* m.t him on tho si wet. I don't think they did i p<rp s>ly but ir seemed natural lo them t» rueh through the first doorway or over tho ra< st con. Tenient fence when they saw him approach. This unexphcable dread com-mu-icated itself to ihe veryd^gs ■ n the street, but before they had come fairly to undewiand him, ho had succeeded in. reducing the prue of a winters- bre,»kfa«t luxury to aim st a mere song. After that th-y looked up to him with the reaped exacttd by a Hindoo cod w.th two changes of underclothes, and no <log within three blocks of us would think of going to sleep at night without first coming over to see if that horse was locked np. It was instinct, probably. My parent liever enjoyed a tingle day of tho eight, he wns tho possessor of the animal. He nipped away some portion of him every once in a while, My parent wo» not a profane man, but he was sorely tempted every hour in the day. Tho man who lived next dour to us was a profound gwearer. i£e owned a borse that was a model of goodness in every respect— as gentle m a lamb, and as loveable as a girl of iixteen. My father could never underktund this. He always ipoke of it as one of the inscrutable ways of providon«e. There was on'y one person that had anything to do with the ani nal who camo out of that fiery ordeal unscathed. He whs the hired man, and he owed his salvation to a misfortune. He was crosseyed. Be was a gfeot source of misery to tliat yellow howe. The malformation of his «yes was calculated to decoire even smarter beiugfc The boaat

kic\ed af him a few lines when he was cvi lenlly looking the other way, but that was just tlio time he was bearing one oyi? etrongk on him, and missed ; and when he really w.is not 1 joking was just the time tbo bea^t thonaht he was, and ho ii went through tho entire eight duya. Hot b etonaoh and hn.'ls yt-arned for a morsol of hi n, but never gcfct'iig it. I am Bure there rerer was nncther each horse to kick and bite. He rlid it so unexpectedly, too, He would bo looking n stranger square in thn face, apparently ab ut to impurt some i formation o value, and thi«n suddenly lift his hind , foo*. and fetch t!ie unaophW'catfd man a rap on the head that would make him see seventy-four dollars 1 wonh of lire works m a minute. Ho would bilo at anything wh thor ho reached it or nut 5 but in kicking, h" rarely raided. il« could use any leg with' facility, but piicled him e)i mainly on the extraordinary play of the left hind leg. With thut lunb he woul i breik up ft political meeting in five minutes and kick ovor the entire {.lan of the eimpaign before the last man got to tho door. T'lo very air about our place was i^y prrgnated with camp l . or and thcvoi.o s new kinds of linimerts. The neighbors cinifl around after dark, nnd howh'd for tlie blood of the yellow homo like so ma y Indians clamoring for a pint of New Englatid potash. Ma teia commeocod to aisume a critical form. The peop'e wanted the aiiiinul killed, and cut open so they could get back their things. And to my parent determined to shoot he beast, but at the lait moment his heart failed him. Pity t'inmphed, and he sold him to a man from a distance, and it was suc'i a giv&t distance that none of m weiv> able to at end bis funeral two weeks Jat v, although* earnestly inviced to do so. He left a wife and three interesting children, and was struck just aoovc the right temple, I believe.