CHAPTER III. 

 Affection for Animals, Not for Man 



THE horse is a gregarious animal, and as 

 such craves the companionship of his kind, 

 or failing that, of any other living creature, man 

 ranking lowest not in the list of his affections, but 

 of his tolerations. As the slang phrase runs, he 

 emphatically " has no use for " the biped, save as a 

 drawer of water and a means to the end of food 

 and shelter. As such, man has his uses in equine 

 eyes, but not otherwise, nor for any other purposes. 

 True, to the hunter camped for the night upon the 

 plains may come his four-footed comrade in the 

 " dim watches of the night," and may graze or stand 

 near him ; but should he thus seem to seek compan- 

 ionship in the vast solitudes of the prairies it is 

 regarded by the experienced not as a cause for self- 

 congratulation and as a manifestation of affection, 



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