Family Horse and Children's Pony 155 



as to how to act if accidents occur : what repairs to 

 make; whether harness, carriage, etc., are all cor- 

 rectly joined, and appropriate liberty allowed the 

 motive power. John hies him to the city, leaving 

 Mary and the children to the tender mercies of a 

 hired man (who probably never had his hand on a 

 horse until he came to America) ; and this hireling 

 attaches the roan to the carryall by the various straps 

 that seem appropriate, and, installing the family in 

 the vehicle, returns to his job of banking the celery, 

 turning Mary (and the children) loose upon the 

 public thoroughfares to ply her aimless way amid 

 the varying traffic, a menace to all others, and a not 

 improbable cause of destruction to herself and 

 family, if any emergency arise. John! John! the 

 sword of Damocles hangs over your bald pate as you 

 sit serenely in your office, and you are in more luck 

 than you deserve if the fool-killer does not get you 

 some fine night as you are walking up from the 

 station ! 



No man has any right to entrust a woman alone 

 with a horse — no matter how expert she is ; no 



