44 THE STB IKE AT SHAN^e'S, 



'*an* it's no use for us to argy for we can't agree. 

 When luck begins to run agin a man there's no stoppin' 

 it. Now there's all them horses of mine cKsabled, an' 

 I don't know what to do." 



" Now to be candid, friend Shane, don't you think you 

 are in a measure responsible for the condition of your 

 horses ? Now there's old Dobbin would have been able 

 to do light work all summer if he had not been over- 

 worked, but he is not fit for any work now." 



"Yes ; an' I'd get rid of him if it wasn't for Mary. 

 I don't believe in keeping useless animals just out of 

 sympathy." 



"Oh! come now; you don't think God gave man 

 dominion over the lower animals just that we might 

 tyrannize over them, and abuse them? There is no 

 record of any crime they ever committed against the 

 laws of God, or any disobedience to His will that 

 should lead Him to give man dominion over them as a 

 means of punishment ; but, on the contrary, it seems as 

 though He has given them to us to be useful to us, 

 and make our lives happier. There is a limit to our 

 dominion, and that limit has been exceeded by you, in 

 the case of old Dobbin, at least. You had long years 

 of service from him, and he had grown too old for the 

 work you put on him. The same reason would proba- 

 bly hold good with the other horses, for I think you 

 have overworked them this spring. I say it in all 

 kindness to you ; but I think you have got into the 

 habit of looking at things in the wrong light, and 

 are measuring things by a fslse standard." 



