tten it out as nearly as possible
as my friend told it to me, but so much flavor is lost when these things
change hands. Here it is, and I think that the lamentation David sang
over Saul, might head it.

"A while ago we owned a couple of horses--work horses, and yet, by reason
of the strength of their affections, they were lifted from out the
commonplace, and enveloped with an atmosphere of romance that gave them
the flavor of a story book, plumb full of princes and heroes. And by the
way, Prince was the name of one of them, and he was a genuine hero, as
you will see. His mate was called Nelly, and albeit she was as awkward
and as angular as the ideal old maid, vastly inferior to Prince, who was
a fine-looking chap, yet his admiration for her was unbounded. She cared
for him, I'm sure, but she was less demonstrative; more coquettish, I
would say, if she hadn't been too homely a beast to think of, in
connection with such a word.

"They were brought up together; were taught by the same master; sat on
the same bench, in a figurative sense; were lovers from the very first.
Prince certainly had the most elegant manners; Nelly was his first
thought, at all times, and his courtesy to her savored of the old
school. He wouldn't go into the shed of a cold, rainy day and leave
Nelly outside; but if she went in, he was more than content to follow.
When it was necessary to separate them--we couldn't always work them
together--we had to tie Prince with ropes and cables, as it were, to hold
him fast. Nelly was less difficult to manage; at least, she would let
him go out of sight without fretting, and yet, after all, she seemed
easier if he were at hand. I remember, one day, he was tied in front of
the house, and she was loose, grazing near by. As long as he could see
her, all went well enough, but the moment she sauntered around the
fence, he began first to fidget, then to paw and neigh, and finally to
struggle, until in the end, he broke loose and rushed after his
inamorata. And what a time he made over her! whinnying, and
demonstrating his delight in a dozen different ways. She? oh, she took
it coolly, but that was all feminine bosh, or coquetry on her part. She
liked to have him near her well enough.

"There was an amusing thing happened one day, down in the field. Father
and I were plowing with Nell. We had tied Prince to a tree, the other
side of the knoll we were working on, and supposed he was fast, but to
our surprise, just