320 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
Harry and His Horse. 
It is a little more natural for a fanner boy to want a 
horse than for him to want to wait until he is old enough 
to take care of it. I felt very big when I could be trusted 
with a horse-out of sight of any other person, with my 
“ red top ” boots, and a real, live horse; but when I look 
back and think of it, I now see that the horse which I 
thought. I must hold with all my might or he 
would run away, was a very old and gentle 
one that rather cared for me than I for him. 
lie would not have run away for all the world 
—he had lived too long to see any fun in being 
fast, and to move at all was a matter of great 
exertion and self-sacrifice. When boys can 
not get hold of a real, live horse, they do the 
next best thing, which is, to have a wooden 
one. Of wooden horses there have been many 
sorts—perhaps more kinds than of real horses; 
but the ones that are the best, that is, nearest 
the child’s heart, are those which he makes 
himself. The picture here given shows what 
a little friend of ours can do in the way of get¬ 
ting up a “ play horse” that furnishes him a 
world of amusement for a time. It is a very 
crooked branch of a very crooked tree, with 
the limbs coming out from the body in such 
places that they really look like the legs of a 
horse—at least they are of the same number. 
As for the head, though a little slender per¬ 
haps, it is seen to be the head. Not so much 
can be said of the tail. Well! some horses are 
“ bob tails,” though they are not so common 
now as some years ago. Harry has evidently 
had great sport with his pony, and has just 
brought him in from a drive, and has hitched 
him to a post—it is not always safe to hitch 
them thus, as they may frighten other horses 
that do not easily recognize their wooden rep¬ 
resentatives as horses. It is well to throw a 
blanket over him,as he maybe sweaty, and there 
may be a draft blowing that might bring on a 
hard cold. How intently the large, rather, queer-shaped 
eyed animal is feeding from the great, banded mit¬ 
ten. The oats, it is hoped, will make “Charlie” more 
fleshy than at present—though he is doubtless a race horse, 
and can not be expected to carry much extra flesh. The 
only fault I can find with the care of the horse is the lack 
of care of the drum—it is feared that with one single well 
directed kick the music-box will come to an untimely 
end, and in this, the year lor drums. Harry in his haste 
for his own dinner—but his riding has made him very 
hungry—has overlooked the drum, but it is hoped that 
when he returns for his afternoon ride he will find every¬ 
thing all right. How Harry would feel to find his horse 
gone—to find that the hi telling-strap had been broken, 
and “ Charlie ” had left for parts unknown. With such a 
tight hitch, and such a good supply of food so close at 
hand, it may be expected that everything will be in order, 
while in waiting for the return of the young horseman. If 
the horse gets away under such circumstances, may it not 
be a sort of evidence that he has been led astray by some 
other boy perhaps 1 The care which a boy will thus bestow 
upon a lifeless, and some may even say ugly, stick, is to be 
highly praised, it is but the youthful overflow of a regard 
for the feelings of others; and whatever will develop that 
manly trait, even if it is the feeding of make-believe 
oats to a make-believe horse, should be encouraged. 
The boy that takes the best care of the toy that he makes 
or has had given him, will make the kindest, best, and 
most humane of men. For my part I see a good side in 
before he goes to his own dinner, in waiting for him. U. II. 
Tlie Cat and tJ»c ESirtls. 
Cats and dogs, it is generally said, do not get along 
well together, but I have seen them so thoughtful of each 
other's interests and feelings, that there seemed to be a 
sort of affection between them: as if Old Bruno loved 
Tabby, and Tabby loved Old Bruno. Such cases are 
rather rare, it is true, and when we do see them they give 
us much pleasure. But when it comes to cats and birds 
the feeling is somewhat different. The cat seems to feel 
that a bird is made to be caught and eaten, and on the 
other hand the bird acts as if it thought that to keep out 
of the reach of the cat is the safest thing to do if its life 
is valued. There have been cats that, by severe training, 
have been made to feel that a bird’s life is not for her to 
take; but it is an unnatural state of the cat’s mind, and 
not to be depended upon. The time may come when the 
cat and the bird will lie down together; but it seems a 
long way off.—As cats now are, if they do lie down to¬ 
gether, you may be sure that the bird will be on the in¬ 
side of the cat. The instinct of animals is very strong; 
that something which impels the lion to eat the deer, 
and the bear to find its living animal food, is by nature 
so strong that any thing like “ Daniel in the lions’ den” 
will always be a striking story to children, because it is 
so unnatural and uncommon. The picture, which is here 
given, teaches a great deal, while it is at the same time 
pleasing aud almost funny. Here is a table, partly 
shown, upon which a stand of stuffed birds has been left, 
we may suppose for a short time, with no one in the 
room-save the household cat. “Old Pussy,” that at most 
times would not do the wrong thing— would not get at 
the cream or milk, etc., because her “bringing up ” has 
taught her better things, sees these birds so plump and 
life-like within her reach. With the quiet and stealth of 
a tiger, she creeps upon her prey ! What a meal of nice 
tender bird she thinks is in store for her, and with this 
one thought of securing it, we find her upon the table, 
and with the greatest caution approaches the game, step 
by step. But now her eyes show that she has some 
doubt, as she pauses and looks half intent, half deceived, 
upon the feathered 
creatures that are quite 
too tame for birds of 
flesh and blood. They 
do not flutter their 
open wings or move 
their little heads, but 
have their eyes fixed 
with a glassy stare 
upon the coming foe. 
Because we love the 
little harmless birds 
more than the larger 
cat, whose nature it is 
to catch them—and for 
which we can not 
blame her—we all en¬ 
joy' the picture, and 
are apt to exult in the 
safety of the work of 
the bird-stuffers, and 
have but a grain of 
pity for “ Pussy,” who 
has had her practice 
in bird-catching for 
her pains. In the sup¬ 
posed cruelty of the 
cat we are apt to for¬ 
get that the bird, when 
alive, did not hesitate 
to take the life of an 
insect, with just as 
much cruelty, and 
while the cat is catch¬ 
ing one bird to satisfy 
its hunger, the bird is 
perhaps killing a hundred, or a thousand, insects, to 
preserve its life. But the cat must retire from her high 
place on the table, where she should not be, and that 
quickly too, when the owner returns, with the feeling 
that all things in this world are not what they at 
first seem. Uncle Hal. 
THE WOODEN HOUSE AT DINNER. 
Harry in his giving his horse a safe place and a good feed 
