by John Salisbury Cochran.

See previous entry: Beautiful Belmont, Part 19 -- The Dancing Violin.

It is interesting how quickly, not only every member of the household, but every animal on the farm is known by its good or bad characteristics. One will, for instance, find in one stall in the stable a horse that is always doing things that are exactly right, while in the next, the exact reverse is the case. Of this last variety was a mare we called Miller, named after the man from whom we purchased her. She was about the meanest horse I ever saw, and we all had a grudge against her.

At one time, when six of us boys were plowing vegetables with this mare on the bottom land at the foot of the lane -- some quarter of a mile from the house -- and were quite tired from the day's work, a friendly dispute arose as to who should ride the horse. We compromised by all six getting on at once. Brother Wilson, who was behind, and always in for mischief no matter how tired, stuck his heel in Miller's flank, and then began some of the liveliest kicking and running on record. She kicked us off one by one until none were left but our oldest brother, Rob, and myself. He was in front, and coming to the conclusion she was not going to be successful in getting me off, endeavored to aid her by lying down backward on me, as he had hold of the harness and felt entirely safe. I threw my arms around him and we both went off together close to the stable, with Miller feeling she had won a great victory. Father came out and gave us a word of admonition about the treatment of that mare, having witnessed everything from the front porch.

See next entry: Beautiful Belmont, Part 21 -- The Fortuneteller.

For the table of contents and first entry in this series, see: Beautiful Belmont, Part 01 -- Table of Contents and Brief Introduction.

This entry is adapted from Bonnie Belmont: A Historical Romance of the Days of Slavery and the Civil War, by John Salisbury Cochran, which was published originally in 1907. The book has been reedited extensively for inclusion in the Pierian Press Fulltext eBooks database, and is included on the Stratton House Inn Web site by special permission. This special edition of Beautiful Belmont is licensed for use ONLY on this Web site. It may not be copied or downloaded, but may be used for educational purposes and personal pleasure under fair-use provisions via this Web site. Please note that this Stratton House Inn iteration of the book does NOT include the subject headings assigned each chapter for use in the Fulltext eBooks database.

CO-AUTHOR: Wall, C. Edward. (Editor)
CO-AUTHOR: Schultheiss, Tom. (Asst. Editor)

DATABASE: Fulltext eBooks: Copyright (c) 2000 The Pierian Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved
ENTRY NUMBER: EBK30011841

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