246 DEL AGO A BAY. 



shoulder ; if I have scent on my hands he rubs 

 his lips over them, with evident enjoyment of 

 the perfume. 



When he first came into the town he was a 

 mere skeleton, and full of sores, having been 

 cruelly ridden from the Transvaal in too short a 

 time and on scanty or no food, too often the case 

 here ; but I helped to cure him, and in time he 

 became fat and sleek, and at last was given to 

 me, and became my very own to feed and care 

 for, which is very different and much more 

 delightful than having your horse brought to 

 the door ready for riding, and dismissed to the 

 stable afterwards, because if one wants to be on 

 friendly terms with animals, one must see to 

 them personally. 



I had no time to build a proper stable for 

 him, but managed to get him into a little room 

 that had been used as a sleeping-room for the 

 boy, and he soon seemed very comfortable in it, 

 looking like a Jack-in-the-box when he popped 

 his head out in the morning to be kissed and 

 caressed. My friends used laughingly to tease 



