Stories about the Instinct of Animals, Their Characters, and Habits | Page 5

him; the horse, in return, scratched the
greyhound's back with his teeth. On one occasion, when the groom had
the pair out for exercise, a large dog attacked the greyhound, bore him
to the ground, and seemed likely to worry him, when the horse threw
back his ears, rushed forward, seized the strange dog by the back, and
flung him to a distance, which so terrified the aggressor, that he at once
desisted and made off."
"That was very kind, Uncle Thomas. I like to hear of such instances of
friendship between animals."
"Such a docile animal as the horse can readily be trained to particular
habits, and does not readily forget them, however disreputable. There is
an odd story to illustrate this.
"About the middle of last century, a Scottish lawyer had occasion to
visit the metropolis. At that period such journies were usually
performed on horseback, and the traveller might either ride post, or, if
willing to travel economically, he bought a horse, and sold him at the
end of his journey. The lawyer had chosen the latter mode of travelling,
and sold the animal on which he rode from Scotland as soon as he
arrived in London. With a view to his return, he went to Smithfield to
purchase a horse. About dusk a handsome one was offered, at so cheap
a rate that he suspected the soundness of the animal, but being able to
discover no blemish, he became the purchaser.

"Next morning, he set out on his journey, the horse had excellent paces,
and our traveller, while riding over the few first miles, where the road
was well frequented, did not fail to congratulate himself on his good
fortune, which had led him to make so advantageous a bargain.
"They arrived at last at Finchley Common, and at a place where the
road ran down a slight eminence, and up another, the lawyer met a
clergyman driving a one-horse chaise. There was nobody within sight,
and the horse by his conduct instantly discovered the profession of his
former owner. Instead of pursuing his journey, he ran close up to the
chaise and stopt it, having no doubt but his rider would embrace so fair
an opportunity of exercising his calling. The clergyman seemed of the
same opinion, produced his purse unasked, and assured the astonished
lawyer that it was quite unnecessary to draw his pistol, as he did not
intend to offer any resistance. The traveller rallied his horse, and with
many apologies to the gentleman he had so innocently and unwillingly
affrighted, pursued his journey.
"They had not proceeded far when the horse again made the same
suspicious approach to a coach, from the window of which a
blunderbuss was levelled, with denunciations of death and destruction
to the hapless and perplexed rider. In short, after his life had been once
or twice endangered by the suspicions to which the conduct of his horse
gave rise, and his liberty as often threatened by the peace-officers, who
were disposed to apprehend him as a notorious highwayman, the
former owner of the horse, he was obliged to part with the inauspicious
animal for a trifle, and to purchase one less beautiful, but not
accustomed to such dangerous habits."
"Capital, Uncle Thomas! I should have liked to have seen the perplexed
look of the poor lawyer, when he saw the blunderbuss make its
appearance at the carriage window!"
"There is one other story about the horse, showing his love for his
master, and the gentleness of his character. A horse which was
remarkable for its antipathy to strangers, one evening, while bearing his
master home from a jovial meeting, became disburthened of his rider,
who, having indulged rather freely, soon went to sleep on the ground.

The horse, however, did not scamper off, but kept faithful watch by his
prostrate master till the morning, when the two were perceived about
sunrise by some labourers. They approached the gentleman, with the
intention of replacing him on his saddle, but every attempt on their part
was resolutely opposed by the grinning teeth and ready heels of the
horse, which would neither allow them to touch his master, nor suffer
himself to be seized till the gentleman himself awoke from his sleep.
The same horse, among other bad propensities, constantly resented the
attempts of the groom to trim its fetlocks. This circumstance happened
to be mentioned by its owner in conversation, in the presence of his
youngest child, a very few years old, when he defied any man to
perform the operation singly. The father next day, in passing through
the stable-yard, beheld with the utmost distress, the infant employed
with a pair of scissors in clipping the fetlocks of the hind-legs of this
vicious hunter--an operation which had been always hitherto