Branton Hills, now an up-to-today city, coming to that point of
motorizing all city apparatus, had just a last, solitary company
of that class which an inhabitant frantically calls to a burning
building--Company Four, in our big shopping district; all apparatus of
which was still animal drawn; four big, husky chaps: two blacks and
two roans. Any thought of backing in any sort of motor apparatus onto
this floor, upon which this loyal four had, during many months, stood,
champing at bits, pawing and whinnying to start out that big door, in
daylight or night-gloom, calm or storm,--was mighty tough for old Dowd
and Clancy. A man living day and night with such glorious, vivacious
animals, grows to look upon such as almost human. Bright, brainy,
sparkling colts can win a strong hold on a man, you know.
And now!! What form of disposal was awaiting "Big Four", as Clancy and
Dowd took a fond joy in dubbing this pair of blacks and two roans?
Clancy and Dowd didn't know anything but that a mass of cogs, piping,
brass railings, an intricacy of knobs, buttons, spark-plugs, forward
clutch and so forth was coming tomorrow.
"_Aw!!_" said Dowd, moaningly, "you know, Clancy, that good old light
shifting about and that light 'stomping' in that row of stalls, at
night; you know, old man, that happy crunching of corn; that occasional
cough; that tail-swatting at a fly or crazy zigzagging moth; that grand
animal odor from that back part of this floor."
"I do," said Clancy. "And _now_ what? A loud whizz of a motor! A
suffocating blast of gas! and a dom thing a-standin' on this floor, wid
no brain; wid nothin' lovin' about it. Wid no soul."
"Um-m-m," said Dowd, "I dunno about an animal havin' a soul, but it's
got a thing not so dom far _from_ it."
As Clancy sat worrying about various forms of disposal for Big Four, an
official phoning from City Hall, said just an ordinary, common word,
which had Clancy hopping up and down, _furiously mad_.
"What's all this? What's all this?" Dowd sang out, coming from a stall,
in which a good rubbing down of a shiny coat, and continuous loving
pats had brought snuggling and nosing.
"_Auction!!_" said Clancy, wildly, and sitting down with a thud.
"Auction? Auction for Big Four? _What?_ Put up on a block as you would
a Jap urn or a phony diamond?"
"Uh-huh; that's what City Hall says."
An awful calm slunk insidiously onto that big smooth floor, as Dowd and
Clancy, chins on hands, sat,--just thinking! Finally Clancy burst out
with:--
"Aw! If an alarm would _only_ ring in, right now, to stop my brain from
cracking! _Auction! Bah!!_"
* * * * *
A big crowd stood in City Park, including His Honor, many a Councilman,
and, naturally, Old Bill Simpkins, who was always bound to know what
was going on. A loud, fast-talking man, on a high stand, was shouting:--
"All right, you guys! How much? How much for this big black? A mountain
of muscular ability! Young, kind, willing, smart! How much? How much?"
Bids abominably low at first, but slowly crawling up; crawling slowly,
as a boa constrictor crawls up on its victim. But, _without fail_, as
a bid was sung out from that surging, gawking, chin-lifting mob, a
woman, way in back, would surpass it! And that woman hung on, as no boa
constrictor could! Gadsby, way down in front, couldn't fathom it, at
all. Why should a woman want Big Four? A solitary animal, possibly, but
_four!_ So His Honor, turning and making his way toward that back row,
ran smack into Nancy.
"Daddy! Lady Standish is outbidding all this crowd!"
"Oho! So _that's_ it!"
So Gadsby, pushing his way again through that jam, and coming to that
most worthy woman, said:--
"By golly, Sally! It's plain that you want Big Four."
"John Gadsby, you ought to _know_ that I do. Why! A man might buy that
big pair of roans to hitch up to a plow! Or hook a big black onto an
ash cart!"
"I know that, Sally, but that small back yard of yours is----"
"_John!!_ Do your Municipal occupations knock all past days' doings out
of your skull? You _know_ that I own a grand, big patch of land out
in our suburbs, half as big as Branton Hills. So this Big Four will
just run around, jump, roll, kick, and loaf until doomsday, if I can
_wallop_ this mob out of bidding."
As Lady Standish was long known as standing first in valuation on
Branton Hills' tax list, nobody in that crowd was so foolish as to
hang on, in a war of bidding, against _that_ bankroll. So Gadsby shook
hands, put an arm about Nancy, walking happily away, as a roar of
plaudits shot out from that crowd, for that loud, fast-talking man was
announcing:--
"_Sold! All four to Lady Standish!!_"