THE CALL OF A DISTANT PAST 265 



not only of the family, but of the entire country- 

 side. I have since that time had the pleasure of 

 riding and driving many a good horse. I have ex- 

 perienced since then divers and sundry "thrills" 

 incident to connection with various events of one 

 kind or another; but if I were to live to be a hun- 

 dred years old I do not imagine that I could ever 

 experience again anything approaching the sense of 

 supreme and of course exaggerated importance I 

 used to feel when as a small boy I was set astride 

 the broad bare back of this great horse, the reins 

 of his fine bridle bedecked at brow-band with red 

 rosettes placed in my hands, and started around 

 the village streets or public highways. He was as 

 gentle as a dog, and only once, on the occasion of 

 a county fair, was I ever unhorsed as a result of 

 my fondness for poor old Victor Hugo. I say "poor," 

 because after several successful years, in the course 

 of which he was patronized to the limit by the 

 farmers of Keokuk and adjoining counties, he bled 

 to death as a result of the rupture of a blood 

 vessel in his head or nostril. I know I wept for 

 days and would not be comforted. 



Then came the great imported horse Dieppe, 

 and also Diligence, both bought from the DILLONS 

 of Bloomington, the former at $3,000 and the latter 



