Solitude and Company 181 



I think, because he joined a herd of cows 

 and became domestic, without anybody 

 asking him to. He would come around in 

 the evening to sozzle his nose in a pail of 

 milk, and no circus was half so funny as 

 his attempts to drink while he only knew 

 how to suck, for he was a nursing infant. 

 He would jam his head into the pail, get 

 the fluid up his nostrils, blow and dance 

 with appetite and vexation, and at last, 

 having sloshed a certain amount of milk 

 down his throat and spilled the rest over 

 the premises, would go to sleep in the 

 barn-yard with the other calves. James 

 may have been over-stimulated with fruit 

 and gingerbread, or he may have been 

 spanked too often for going into the house 

 without wiping his feet, for as his horns 

 increased he begat a temper. He was 

 especially likely to get behind you and 

 charge, so that you sat down tenderly 

 for several days afterward. A pet deer 

 once killed his master by cutting open his 

 abdomen, and I believe that something 

 sudden happened to James about that 

 time. 



