CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIV.
CHAPTER XV.
CHAPTER XVI.
CHAPTER XVII.
CHAPTER XVIII.
CHAPTER XIX.
CHAPTER XX.
"WHITE DANDY _OR_ MASTER AND I"
A HORSE'S STORY
25
CENTS.
BY VELMA CALDWELL MELVILLE.
A COMPANION BOOK TO "BLACK BEAUTY."
[Illustration]
J. S. OGILVIE, PUBLISHING CO.
57 ROSE ST. NEW YORK.
"WHITE DANDY"
OR,
MASTER AND I.
A Horse's Story.
BY
VELMA CALDWELL MELVILLE.
_Author of "Queen Bess."_
A Companion Story to "Black Beauty."
THE SUNNYSIDE SERIES. No. 102. July, 1898. Issued Quarterly.
$1.00 per year. Entered at New York Post-Office as second-class matter.
(COPYRIGHT 1898 BY J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING CO.)
NEW YORK:
J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
57 ROSE STREET.
"WHITE DANDY"
OR,
MASTER AND I.
CHAPTER I.
Master is Dr. Richard Wallace and I am Dandy, the doctor's favorite
horse, long-tried companion and friend.
Neither of us are as young as we once were, but time seems to tell less
on us than on some others, though I have never been quite the same since
that dreadful year that Master was out West. He often strokes my face
and says: "We're getting old, my boy, getting old, but it don't matter."
Then I see a far away look in the kind, blue eyes--a look that I know so
well--and I press my cheek against his, trying to comfort him. I know
full well what he is thinking about, whether he mentions it right out or
not.
Yes, I remember all about the tragedy that shaped both our lives, and
how I have longed for intelligent speech that I might talk it all over
with him.
He is sixty-two now and I only half as old, but while he is just as busy
as ever, he will not permit me to undertake a single hardship.
Dr. Fred--his brother and partner--sometimes says: "Don't be a fool over
that old horse, Dick! He is able to work as any of us." But the latter
smiles and shakes his head: "Dandy has seen hard service enough and
earned a peaceful old age."
Fred sneers. He says he has no patience with "Dick's nonsense;" but then
he was in Europe when the tragedy occurred, and besides I suppose it
takes the romance and sentiment out of a man to have two wives, raise
three bad boys and bury one willful daughter, to say nothing of the
grandson he has on his hands now; and I might add further that he is a
vastly different man from Dick anyway.
It is a grand thing to spend one's life for others; that is what my
master has done, and it is what we horses do. Of course he is looking
forward to his reward, but we are not expecting anything, though he
insists that there will be a heaven for all faithful domestic animals.
Fred says there is no Bible for it, but Dick says that they could not
mention everything in one book. He says, too, that while he believes
everything to be true that is in the Bible, at the same time he knows
many things to be true that are not there; then he tells about a good
old minister, who, when asked to lend his influence in the organization
of a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, replied that if
Paul had written a chapter on the subject he would consider it worth his
while to countenance the movement, but as he didn't, he must be excused.
For the benefit of such men, Master says he wishes the apostle had had
time and inclination to write a chapter, and since he did not--with due
reverence for Paul--it would have suited him better, and met a
nineteenth century need closer, if he had omitted suggestions on ladies'
toilets and dealt a few of his sledge-hammer blows at the man who
oppresses the defenseless. Of course I know nothing about such things
myself, but Dr. Dick has always had a fashion of talking all sorts of
things to me, and I have a retentive memory.
But I must begin my story, for I have set out to give you a history of
"Master and I" and, incidentally, of many another man and beast.
I will begin shortly after the tragedy; maybe before I get through I
will tell you about that, but to-day I do not feel equal to it.
Poor Master!
Well, he came into my stall, where I had literally shivered with terror
ever since that dreadful morning four days before, and, throwing his
arms about my neck, burst into tears. A long while he sobbed there, and
then growing calmer, he began caressing me, and said:
"Dandy, boy, you are going home with me, to live with me while I live,
to walk beside my coffin, and to be shot beside my grave, if so be you
outlive me."
Sad words, but they were a comfort to me, feeling as I did.
Presently the boy came in and groomed me until my snowy coat shone like
silk.
"I hate to part with ye, Dandy, fer fact I do!" he said, standing off
and looking me over, "but then ye'd a gone anyhow, I s'pose." Then he
put a halter on me and led me out to where the doctor's horses were
standing hitched to a buggy and tied me fast to the back.
All the folks came out of the house and surely they cried harder than on
either of those other days, but the doctor, with his lips white and set
close together, hurried into the buggy and, with a backward nod, drove
off. I glanced back and neighed good-by, then took up my journey with a
heavy heart. I wanted to go and yet I wanted to stay. Certainly it was
not enlivening to have to watch my master's agony all that weary seventy
miles to his home.
Of course we stopped over night, and my first night it was away from
home. I assure you that I felt lonely and wretched enough.
"Give all my horses the best of care," Master said to the hostler,
"especially the white one."
The man promised and led us away.
"Don't s'pose they're any better'n other nags," he muttered, the minute
we were out of hearing, and he took us to the pump, tired and heated as
we were, and gave us all the water we could drink.
"What would Dr. Dick say?" Queen, one of the span of bays, said, as we
turned away.
Of course the man did not understand, but thinking she was calling for
more water he pumped another pailful and offered it to her. In surprise
she turned her head aside, which so angered him, that he dashed the
whole of the water right on to her.
Then he led us into dark, dirty stalls, roughly removed the harness from
the bays and threw us some hay. When he was gone, at least we could not
hear him, Queen said:
"I am all of a shiver; I believe it was the cold water inside and out.
Dear me, I wish Master would come out."
"So do I," said Julie. "One thing is sure, we will have to stand up all
night, I can never lie down in this filthy place."
"I don't think I could if I wanted to," responded Queen, "I am tied so
short."
Meanwhile, I was nosing the hay, but it smelled so musty and something
in it tickled my nostrils.
Presently I asked them if they could eat it.
"Oh, yes," Julie answered, "if you are going to be a doctor's horse
you'll get worse than this."
Being pretty hungry, I nibbled away at it until a groan from Queen
startled me. "Ain't you any better?" queried Julie. "No, I am shaking so
I can hardly stand; how I do wish I had a blanket!"
"Wonder he don't see to rubbing us down," I said.
"Rubbing us down!" Julie spoke with scorn. "Unless Master comes out
himself, as he generally does, there'll be no rubbing down to-night.
About daylight they'll come around with an old currycomb and all but
take the skin off us, along with the mud that will be formed out of the
sweat and dust that ought to be rubbed off to-night."
"Oh, I wish Master would come!" moaned Queen; "I am almost burning up
now."
"Got fever," remarked her mate, who seemed to have been around the world
a good deal and grown used to everything.
After what seemed an age, a light flashed into the barn and two strange
horses were tied in the next stalls. The same man led them. After
throwing them some hay he came into my stall.
"Here, you fool, why don't you eat your hay, not muss over it?" he cried
angrily, pushing it together with one hand while with the other he dealt
me a blow across the nose. It was the first blow that I had ever
received, and it hurt me in more ways than one. Just then a boy came in
with a peck measure of oats.
"There hain't none o' these critters tetched their hay hardly; 'nd their
boss hez gone to bed sick, so I guess we'll 'conomize on the oats till
mornin'."
"All right."
"Humph!" said Julie, but Queen groaned and I felt like it.
Before morning of that wretched night I lay down; I could not help it, I
was so tired, hungry and sad.
Sure enough, by daylight (or lantern light in that windowless barn) the
man and boy were at us with currycombs as if we had had no more feeling
than barn doors. Then we each had a meager portion of oats. Julie and I
ate ours readily enough, but poor Queen was too ill.
When the man noticed this he swore a little, then lengthened her halter
strap and ordered the boy to scatter some straw over the filth in all
our stalls.
By and by Master came out looking wan and haggard in the dim light.
"Poor girl!" he said, tenderly, running his fingers along the edge of
Queen's jaw to the pulse.
"Mercy, Queenie, what a pulse--ninety!" Then he questioned the man as to
his care of us, but never a word of truth he got in reply, but we could
not tell.
"Lead her out into the daylight," Dr. Dick ordered, adding: "Haven't you
a lot or yard where all my horses can be turned in for awhile?"
The man demurred, but Master soon brought the landlord and we were taken
out into the sunlight. So busy was the former administering a dose of
aconite to Queen that he did not at first notice me, but when he did an
angry ejaculation escaped his lips as he pointed to my side. I was
astonished, too, when I saw instead of my spotless coat, a great yellow
stain.
"Is that the kind of beds you provide?" he cried, turning to the
landlord.
"I am sure there seemed to be clean straw in the stalls," the latter
replied, "I'll ask the man."
"No need," answered the doctor, curtly, "I am the one to blame for
trusting any man to take care of these good servants who cannot speak
for themselves."
It was almost noon before we started and then the bays walked every step
of the way.
Just before leaving, the span of horses that came in after us the night
before were brought out, one of them limping painfully.
The owner unconcernedly seated himself in his buggy and took up the
lines.
The doctor spoke of the animal's lameness.
"Oh, that is nothing, Jerry is always lame when he first starts, and
nearly all the rest of the time, for that matter," he added, as if it
were a good joke.
"Why don't you have the trouble investigated?"
"Oh, I don't know; never thought much about it; he's an old horse," and
with this he drove off.
Dr. Fred's first wife and her two boys were waiting to--but you can't
understand what for yet. There were not so many railroads and lines of
telegraph then, and no intimation of the news we brought had reached
her. She cried and petted Dr. Dick as if he had been her own child. She
put her arms about my neck and kissed me, too, making me think of other
arms and other kisses. Ah me!
That Mrs. Fred was a lovely woman, more fit for Dr. Dick than his
brother.
The Wallaces lived in the small country village of K---- and controlled
a large practice. The brothers were ambitious, but had started poor, and
not until the year before had they felt that either could spend a few
months abroad. Fred was the elder, and there were other reasons why Dick
preferred to go later, so it happened that the former was the last of
the family for me to know.
The Wallace barn was a large frame building, warm in winter, cool, from
having perfect ventilation, in summer, and well lighted.
Dr. Dick would have no hay mowed to be dropped into the mangers, nor
would he have it stored directly above us all. He insisted that the dust
would inevitably sift down and be the cause of various diseases of the
eye, ear, throat and lungs.
He was particular about the stalls and feed boxes, too. He said it was a
shame for an animal with a low body and short neck to be expected to
take any comfort eating from a box put up for a high horse with a long
neck. He had each stall fitted up with reference to its occupant, nor
would he allow us to be put where we did not belong.
Queen and Julie were regular long, clean-limbed roadsters and their feed
boxes were much higher than mine. I am of heavy build, with short legs
and neck. The first time Dr. Fred looked me over--when Dr. Dick was
absent--he remarked: "A pretty horse for a doctor! Slow and clumsy! No
endurance!"