A EIDE WITH A MAD HORSE IN A CAR. 217 



the hospital, did Gulnare visit me. At the a])- 

 pointed hour the groom would slip her headstall, 

 and, without a word of command, she would dart 

 out of the stable, and, with her long, leopard- 

 like lope, go sweeping down the street and come 

 dashing into the hospital yard, checking herself 

 ^rith the same glad neigh at my window ; nor did she 

 ever once fail, at the closing of the sash, to return 

 directly to her stall. The groom informed me that 

 every morning and evening, when the hour of her 

 visit drew near, she would begin to chafe and wor- 

 ry, and, by jjaAving and pulling at the halter, adver- 

 tise him that it was time for her to be released. 



" But of all exhibitions of happiness, either by 

 beast or man, hers was the most positive on that 

 afternoon when, racing into the yard, she found me 

 leaning on a crutch outside the hospital building. 

 The whole corps of nurses came to the doors, and 

 all the poor fellows that could move themselves, — 

 for Gulnare had become an universal favorite, and 

 the boys looked for her daily visits nearly, if not 

 quite, as ardently as I did, — crawled to the win- 

 dows to see her. AVliat gladness was expressed in 

 every movement ! She would come prancing to- 

 ward me, head and tail erect, and, pausing, rub her 

 head against my shoulder while I patted her glossy 

 neck ; then, suddenly, with a sidewise spring, 

 she would break away, and, with her long tail ele- 

 vated un^^il her magnificent brush, fine and silken 



10 



