182 THE hokse's rescue. 



heavy a load. He came home from his hard day's 

 work over taxed, and sat down in his chair, his speech 

 lost. In a few days Mot passed away. Some time be- 

 fore iLIh I was talking horse in the streets. Mot said 

 to me, '"You had better go to work." This remark, 

 coming fj-om bim, rather shocked me. I thought of 

 his horses that I liad been caring for, and the one that 

 I pulled out of the stiaw — that four hundred dollar 

 horse; besides, at that time I was doing more hard 

 work and working m.ore hours than any two men in 

 that town. Eighteen hours a day and night were put 

 in ; the fact is, I was nearly used up. The cripples 

 kept increasing on me. I was over- worked, and I was 

 obliged to send some away, and I di'opped Mot's horses. 

 Monev I must have to live on, and to buv feed for 

 these horses that I was experimenting on, or I should 

 fail. This caused his bugle to change, but the blast 

 did not blow me oK my base. I was likely to lose all 

 of my friends in this town. Some fought me for cur- 

 ing and some for not curing their horses and keeping 

 them cured. The whole business seemed likely to 

 turn against me. I made up my mind I would switch 

 off awhile and rest up. I was about whipped in this 

 horse fight. I went to my shop, threw both doors 

 open, got a shoe-keg and set it near the door, took some 

 papers and books and commenced to read. I did not 

 read much ; I did not get a chance. New customers 

 kept coming all of the time to crowd out the old ones. 

 I could not do all of this hard work. They would 

 come an go. None of these men stayed with me all 

 of the time They did not come to my shop except 

 occasionallv. There was not one man in the lot that 



