TAKING REINS IN HAND. 109 



" And begorra, it's the same ould baste, sir." 



A few days later I inquired again after the new 

 regimen of gentleness and firmness. 



" Begorra," said Patrick, " she's kicked him 

 again ! " 



A week passed ; and I repeated the inquiries. 



" Begorra, she's kicked him again ! " screamed 

 Patrick; "and it's a divil's own bating he's been 

 giving the ould baste." 



Sure enough, the poor cow was injured sadly ; 

 her milking days were over; and in a month she 

 went to the butcher. And this advocate of gentle- 

 ness and firmness was one of the warmest and most 

 impassioned philanthropists I ever met with. 



The moral of the story is, if a cow is an inveterate 

 kicker, tie her legs with a gentle hand, or kill her. 

 Beating will never cure, whether it come in successive 

 thuds, or in an explosive outbreak of outrageous vio- 

 lence. I suspect that the same ruling is applicable to 

 a great many disorderly members of society. 



Although the cases I have cited were exceptional, 

 and although my little herd had its quiet, docile, 

 profit-giving representatives, yet I cannot say that it 

 was altogether even with my hopes or intentions. 



Two stout yoke of those sleek red cattle, for 

 which southern New England is famous, had their 

 part to bear in the farm programme, besides a sleek 



