62 THE ITINERANT HORSE PHYSICIAN 



left when I got to El Reno, I had to open my 

 trunk and look for something to do. 



I got permission to "hang out" at a stable 

 called the "Red Barn" and began to look around 

 for veterinary work. There was only one veteri- 

 narian there and it looked as though I could do a 

 little, anyhow. But in two weeks I got only one 

 case, and that case I remember well. 



Next to the stable where I "hung out" was 

 another stable called the "Blue Barn." In this 

 "Blue Barn" a quack "hung out." (Hang out 

 and hung out are the only appropriate terms for 

 veterinary offices in livery stables.) This quack 

 was a good old soul, and he later loaned me some 

 money to get out of town. At any rate, he had a 

 case which he wanted me to handle for him, and 

 that is the one case I got in the two weeks I was 

 there. It was a case of necrosis of the tail in 

 a fine mare, said to have resulted from keeping 

 the tail tied up with a tight leather shoe-lace for 

 two or three days during a rainy spell. I ampu- 

 tated the tail with a pocket-knife, charged him 

 five dollars, and the result was good. 



I left El Reno, leaving my trunk with a few 

 books and a dental halter as security for the loan. 

 I have never redeemed them. 



