156 HOW TO LIVE IN THE COUNTRY 



look me in the eye with a sort of Scotch twinkle, 

 and then dash to the roost and scrape the whole row 

 of hens off with a rush and a flutter. 



I may be a Nature fakir, but I believe that every 

 one of our domesticated animals has begun its ra- 

 tional development and that it is capable of be- 

 coming a companion for intelligent human beings. 

 It will pay to bring them forward as fast as pos- 

 sible. I never yet saw a cow or horse that, with 

 right training and treatment, could not help me out of 

 difficulties. Even an unruly cow will stand to be 

 milked more readily by anyone who sings or whistles. 



As for the horse, it really is a part of any well- 

 organized family and deserves every bit of petting 

 that it ever gets. Secretary Wilson is the one Amer- 

 ican who has done most, since Thomas Jefferson, for 

 the development as well as the conservation of Amer- 

 ican resources, but he is doing nothing better than 

 trying to rehabilitate the Morgan horse. I owned 

 a Morgan once, and she was more than a friend. 

 She always called me when she wanted anything, and 

 on more than one occasion she saved me from seri- 

 ous trouble. 



Going up a very steep hill, the coupling broke 

 and dropped the shafts against her legs. She had to 

 hold that buggy with great care, or I, with my wife 

 and baby, would have been tumbled over a dan- 

 gerous precipice. She braced herself instantly, 

 looked back, and whinnied. I spoke to her as I 

 would to a human being, asking her help, and if 



