nd looking anxiously toward the house,
and then trotted off a mile and a half to church by himself. Several
persons saw him going up into the yard, and walking demurely into the
shed while the bell was ringing, and there he stood quietly until the
service was through, when he came home again, just as I was going out to
find him."

CHAPTER III.

STAR DANCING TO MUSIC.

"O, mamma," cried Minnie, "I have had a beautiful time. Uncle Harry is
such a good teacher! And then he tells me such nice stories!"

Her cheeks rivalled the rose, and her eyes were sparkling with
animation, as she said this, while her uncle, who, unobserved by her,
had followed into the parlor, said, laughingly, "I have seldom found so
good a listener. I have enjoyed the ride myself exceedingly. Come here,
Minnie, and I will relate to you an amusing anecdote which I read a
short time ago.

"In Persia, where they have splendid horses, all persons of the least
distinction ride on horseback, and scarcely any one will deign to go the
shortest distance on foot. The anecdote is related by a celebrated
pomologist, concerning a horse employed in his nurseries for over
fifteen years. His name was Old Charley. I was so much interested in the
account of his sagacity, that I went to see him. The good animal was
used for ploughing between lines of trees from three feet and a half to
four feet apart, and moved with such precision and care as to run the
plough and cultivator as near as possible to the trees, without ever
hitting or injuring one of them. His owner told me Old Charley would go
straight between the lines, turning at the end without any motion or
word from the driver, with as much accuracy and skill as any human being
could display, and without stepping over, or entangling his feet in, the
traces in any manner whatever."

[Illustration: STAR DANCING TO MUSIC. Page 53.]

After dinner, Minnie, in company with her mother and their visitors,
went to the stable to try the effect of music on her favorite. She had
scarcely struck a note, when he stopped eating, and began to move his
feet rapidly, as if he were trying to dance.

Even the gentleman was surprised at this display, and declared that the
pony must have been trained to do this by his former owner, while Minnie
became so much excited that she could scarcely control herself.

Mr. Henry Lee took the instrument himself, and found that the horse
really had an idea of time, as the faster he