LESSON XXVI.
The Stage-Coach.
The Stage-Coach.
1. Horses, when they do not work too hard, love to play and have fun. They will race after each other, kick up their heels, and have a merry time. Here are two stories which a man tells of the kind of fun that the horse seems to enjoy:
2. “One of our horses, ‘Billy,’ used to give us a great deal of trouble, he knew so much. He had found out how to untie his halter, and open the stable-door, and so would get out when thedoor was not locked. One day Billy came out, and found little Harry in the yard. He did not attempt to hurt the child, but drove him into a corner, and kept him there by shaking his head whenever the little fellow tried to get away.
3. “I heard Harry cry, and led Billy away; but he gave a parting shake of his head to the boy, as much as to say, ‘Next time I will look after you closer.’
4. “Coming home one evening, I heard a couple of horses running and frisking about in the farm-yard at a great rate. The wall was high, and I could only see their heads, and once in a while a whisk of their tails.
5. “I found a hole to look through, and saw that the horses were amusing themselves by chasing a pig around the yard.
6. “They would drive it into a corner, and fling their heels into the air with great delight. They would not give the poor pig a moment’s rest.
7. “They would rest for a few minutes, and the pig would settle down to his cabbage-leaf, when they would rush at him from different sides, so that he had not the least idea where to run to get away from them.”