30 THE HORSE AND HIS 1UDER. 



house they had left, and which was now closed, for 

 the family had gone to bed. He pawed at the door 

 until some one rose and opened it, and then he turned 

 about; and the man, wondering at the affair, followed 

 him. The faithful and intelligent animal led him to 

 the place where his master lay senseless. A still 

 more interesting incident, of a similar kind, occurred 

 in this country: A little girl, the daughter of a 

 gentleman in Warwickshire, playing on the banks of 

 a canal which runs through his grounds, fell into the 

 water, and would in all probability have been 

 drowned, had not a small pony, which had long been 

 kept in the family, plunged into the stream, arid 

 brought the child safely to land. 



Mr. Jesse gives an instance of what may fairly be 

 called the sensibility of the horse, and his keen per- 

 ception of danger. A friend of his was riding a 

 horse one day in India, attended by a spaniel which 

 had long been its companion. The dog ran into 

 some long grass, and came out crying and shaking its 

 head ; the horse, contrary to his usual custom, not 

 only avoided the dog, but showed the utmost dread 

 of his coming near him. The dog soon died, and 

 upon examination it was found that he had been 

 bitten in the tongue by a venomous snake. 



But the horse's sensibility is not a selfish quality ; 



