from Paduky."

There was the least little touch of pride in the last words.

"Any horse dat knows beans," said Muldoon, suddenly (he had been
standing with his hairy chin on Tweezy's broad quarters), "gits outer
Kansas 'fore dey crip his shoes. I blew in dere from Ioway in de days
o' me youth an' innocence, an' I wuz grateful when dey boxed me fer N'
York. You can't tell me anything about Kansas I don't wanter fergit.
De Belt Line stables ain't no Hoffman House, but dey're Vanderbilts
'longside o' Kansas."

"What the horses o' Kansas think to-day, the horses of America will
think to-morrow; an' I tell you that when the horses of America rise in
their might, the day o' the Oppressor is ended."

There was a pause, till Rick said, with a little grunt:

"Ef you put it that way, every one of us has riz in his might, 'cep'
Marcus, mebbe. Marky, 'j ever rise in yer might?"

"Nope," said Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, thoughtfully quidding over a
mouthful of grass. "I seen a heap o' fools try, though."

"You admit that you riz?" said the Kansas horse, excitedly. "Then
why--why in Kansas did you ever go under again?"

"Horse can't walk on his hind legs all the time," said the Deacon.

"Not when he's jerked over on his back 'fore he knows what fetched him.
We've all done it, Boney," said Rick. "Nip an' Tuck they tried it, spite
o' what the Deacon told 'em; an' the Deacon he tried it, spite o' what
me an' Rod told him; an' me an' Rod tried it, spite o' what Grandee told
us; an' I guess Grandee he tried it, spite o' what his dam told him.
It's the same old circus from generation to generation. 'Colt can't see
why he's called on to back. Same old rearm' on end--straight up. Same
old feelin' that you've bested 'em this time. Same old little yank at
your mouth when you're up good an' tall. Same old Pegasus-act, wonderin'
where you'll 'light. Same old wop when you hit the dirt with your head
where your tail should be, and your in'ards shook up like a bran-mash.
Same old voice in your ear: 'Waal, ye little fool, an' what did you
reckon to make by that?' We're through with risin in our might on this
farm. We go to pole er single, accordin' ez we're hitched."

"An' Man the Oppressor sets an' gloats over you, same as he's settin'
now. Hain't that been your experience, madam?"

This last remark was addressed to Tedda; and any one could see with half
an eye that poor, old anxious, fidgety Tedda, stamping at the flies,
must have lef