 Chapter 15 and 16 of Beautiful Joe This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia. Beautiful Joe by Marshall Saunders. Chapter 15. Our Journey to Riverdale Every other summer, the Moorish children were sent to some place in the country so that they could have a change of air and see what country life was like. As there were so many of them, they usually went different ways. The summer after I came to them, Jack and Carl went to an uncle in Vermont. Miss Laura went to another in New Hampshire and Ned and Willie went to visit a maiden aunt who lived in the White Mountains. Mr. and Mrs. Moorish stayed at home. Fairport was a lovely place in the summer and many people came there to visit. The children took some of their pets with them and the others they left at home for their mother to take care of. She never allowed them to take a pet anywhere unless she knew it would be perfectly welcome. Don't let your pets be a worry to other people, she often said to them, or they will dislike them and you too. Miss Laura went away earlier than the others for she had run down through the spring and was pale and thin. One day early in June we set out. I say we for after my adventure with Jenkins Miss Laura said that I should never be parted from her. If anyone invited her to come and see them and didn't want me, she would stay at home. The whole family went to the station to see us off. They put a chain on my collar and took me to the baggage office and got two tickets for me. One was tied to my collar and the other Miss Laura put in her purse. Then I was put in a baggage car and chained in a corner. I heard Mr. Morris say that as we were only going a short distance it was not worthwhile to get an express ticket for me. There was a dreadful noise and bustle at the station. Whistles were blowing and people were rushing up and down the platform. Some men were tumbling baggage so fast into the car where I was afraid some of it would fall on me. For a few minutes Miss Laura stood by the door and looked in but soon the men had piled up so many boxes and trunks that she could not see me. Then she went away. Mr. Morris asked one of the men to see that I did not get hurt and I heard some money rattle. Then he went away too. It was the beginning of June and the weather had suddenly become very hot. We had a long cold spring and not being used to the heat. It seemed very hard to bear. Before the train started the doors of the baggage car were closed and it became quite dark inside. The darkness and the heat and the close smell and the noise as we went rushing along made me feel sick and frightened. I did not dare to lie down but sat up trembling and wishing that we might soon come to Riverdale Station. But we did not get there for some time and I was to have a great fright. I was thinking of all the stories that I knew of animals traveling. In February the Drury's Newfoundland watchdog Pluto had arrived from New York and he told Jim and me that he had a miserable journey. A gentleman friend of Mr. Drury's had brought him from New York. He saw him chained up in his car and he went into his poolman first tipping the baggage master handsomely to look after him. Pluto said that the baggage master had a very red nose and he was always getting drinks for himself when they stopped at the station but he never once gave him a drink or anything to eat from the time they left New York till they got to Fairport. When the train stopped there and Pluto's chain was unfastened he sprang on the platform and nearly knocked Mr. Drury down. He saw some snow that had sifted through the station roof and he was so thirsty he began to lick it up. When the snow was all gone he jumped up and licked the frost on the windows. Mr. Drury's friend was so angry he found the baggage master and said to him, What did you mean by coming into my car every few hours to tell me the dog was fed and wetted and comfortable? I shall report you. He went into the office at the station and complained of the man and told that he was a drinking man and was going to be dismissed. I was not afraid of suffering like Pluto because it was only going to take us a few hours to get to Riverdale. I found that we always went slowly before we came into a station. In one time when we began to slacken speed I thought that surely we must be at our journey's end. However, it was not Riverdale. The car gave a kind of jump. Then there was a crashing sound ahead and we stopped. I heard men shouting and running up and down and I wondered what had happened. It was all dark and still in the car and nobody came in but the noise kept up outside and I knew something had gone wrong with the train. Perhaps Miss Laura had got hurt. Something must have happened or she would come to me. I barked and pulled at the chain till my neck was sore but for a long, long time I was there alone. The men running about outside must have heard me. If I ever hear a man in trouble and crying for help I go to him and see what he wants. After such a long time that it seemed to me it must be the middle of the night. The door at the end of the car opened and a man looked in. This is all baggage for New York Miss, I heard him say. They wouldn't put your dog in here. Yes they did. I am sure this is the car. I heard the voice I knew so well and won't you get him out please? He must be terribly frightened. The man stooped down and unfastened my chain grumbling to himself because I had not been put in another car. Some folks tumble a dog round as if he was a junk of coal. He said patting me kindly. I was nearly wild with delight to get with Miss Laura again but I had barked so much and pressed my neck so hard with my collar that my voice was all gone. I thawed on her and wagged myself about and opened and shut my mouth but no sound came out of it. It made Miss Laura nervous. She tried to laugh and cry at the same time and then bit her lip hard and said Oh Joe don't. He's lost his bark hasn't he? Said the man looking at me curiously. It's a wicked thing to confine an animal in a dark and closed car. Said Miss Laura trying to see her way down the steps through her tears. The man put out his hand and helped her. He's not suffered much miss. He said don't distress yourself. If you'd been a breakman on a Chicago train as I was a few years ago and seen the animals running for the stockyards you might talk about cruelty. Cars that ought to hold a certain number of pigs or sheep or cattle jammed full with twice as many and half of them thrown out choked and smothered to death. I've seen a man running up and down raging and swearing because the railway people hadn't let him get in to tend to his pigs on the road. Miss Laura turned and looked at the man with a very white face. Is it like that now? She asked. No, no he said hastily. It's better now. They've got new regulations about taking care of the stock but mind you miss the cruelty to animals isn't all done on the railways. There's a great lot of dumb creatures suffering all round everywhere and if they could speak it would be a hard showing for some other people besides the railway men. He lifted his cap and hurried down the platform and Miss Laura, her face very much troubled picked her way among the bits of coal and wood scattered about the platform and went into the waiting room of the little station. She took me up to the filter and let some water run in her hand and gave it to me to lap. Then she sat down and I leaned my head against her knees and she stroked my throat gently. There were some people sitting about the room and from their talk I found out what had taken place. There had been a freight train on a side track at this station waiting for us to get by. The switchman had carelessly left the switch open after this train went by and when we came along afterward our train instead of running in by the platform went crashing into the freight train. If we had been going fast great damage might have been done. As it was, our engine was smashed so badly that it could not take us on. The passengers were frightened and we were having a tedious time waiting for another engine to come and take us to Riverdale. After the accident the train men were so busy that Miss Laura could get no one to release me. When I sat by her I noticed an old gentleman staring at us. He was such a queer looking old gentleman he looked like a poodle. He had bright brown eyes and a pointed face and a shock of white hair that he shook every few minutes. He sat with his hands clasped on top of his cane and he scarcely took his eyes from Miss Laura's face. Suddenly he jumped up and came and sat down beside her. An ugly dog that he said pointing to me. Most young ladies would have resented this but Miss Laura only looked amused. He seems beautiful to me. She said gently because he's your dog. Said the old man darting a sharp look at me. What's the matter with him? This is his first journey by rail and he's a little frightened. No wonder the Lord only knows the suffering of animals in transportation. Said the old gentleman my dear young lady if you could see what I've seen you'd never eat another bit of meat all the days of your life. Miss Laura wrinkled her forehead I know I have heard. She faltered. It must be terrible. Terrible. It's awful. Said the gentleman. Think of the cattle on the western plains choked with dust in the summer and starved and frozen in the winter. Dehorned and goaded onto trains and steamers tossed about wounded and suffering on voyages. Many of them dying and being thrown into the sea. Others landed sick and frightened. Some of them slaughtered on docks and whores to keep them from dropping dead in their tracks. What kind of food does their flesh make? It's rank poison. Three of my family have died of cancer. I'm a vegetarian. The strange old gentleman darted from his seat and began to pace up and down the room. I was very glad he had gone for Miss Laura hated to hear of cruelty of any kind and her tears were dropping thick and fast on my brown coat. The gentleman had spoken very loudly and everyone in the room had listened to what he said. Among them was a very young man with a cold, handsome face. He looked as if he was annoyed that the older man should have made Miss Laura cry. Don't you think so? He said as the old gentleman passed near him in walking up and down the floor that there is a great deal of mock sentiment about this business of taking care of the dumb creation they were made for us. They've got to suffer and be killed to supply our wants. The cattle and sheep and other animals would overrun the earth if we didn't kill them. Granted, said the old man stopping right in front of him. Granted young man, the Lord made the sheep and the cattle and the pigs. They are his creatures just as much as we are. We can kill them but we know right to make them suffer. But we can't help it, sir. Yes, yes we can, my young man. It's a possible thing to raise help to stock, treat it kindly, kill it muscifully, eat it decently. When men do that, I, for one, will cease to be a vegetarian. You're only a boy. You haven't traveled as I have. I've been from one end of this country to the other. Up north, down south and out west, I've seen sights that made me shudder and I tell you the Lord will punish this great American nation if it doesn't change its treatment of the dumb animals committed to its care. The young man looked thoughtful and did not reply. A very sweet-faced old lady sitting near him answered the old gentleman I don't think I have ever seen such a fine-looking old lady as she was. Her hair was snowy white and her face was deeply wrinkled yet she was tall and stately and her expression was as pleasing as my dear Miss Laura's. I do not think we are a wicked nation, she said softly. We are a younger nation than many of the nations of the earth and I think many of our sins are of the same nature and I think many of our sins arise from ignorance and thoughtlessness. Yes, madam, yes, madam said the fiery old gentleman staring hard at her. I agree with you there. She smiled very pleasantly at him and went on. I too have been a traveler and I have talked to many great wise and good people on the subject of the cruel treatment of animals and I find that many of them have never thought about it. They themselves, never knowingly, ill treat a dumb creature and when they are told stories of inhumane conduct they say in surprise why these things surely can't exist. You see, they have never been brought in contact with them. As soon as they learn about them they begin to agitate and say, we must have this thing stopped. Where is the remedy? What is it, madam, in your opinion? Said the old gentleman pawing the floor with impatience. Just the remedy that I would propose for the great evil of intemperance. Said the old lady smiling at him. Legislation and education. Legislation for the old and hardened and education for the young and tender. I would tell the school boys and school girls that alcohol will destroy the framework of their beautiful bodies and that cruelty to any of God's living creatures will destroy their innocent young souls. The young man spoke out again. Don't you think, he said, that your temperance and humane people lay too much stress upon the education of our youth and all lofty and noble sentiments, the human heart will always be wicked. Your Bible tells you that, doesn't it? You can't educate all the badness out of children. We don't expect to do that. The old lady turning her pleasant face toward him. But even if the human heart is desperately wicked, shouldn't that make us much more eager to try to educate, to ennoble, to restrain? However, as far as my experience goes, and I have lived in this wicked world for 75 years, I find that the human heart, though wicked and cruel as you say, has yet some soft and tender spots. And the impressions made upon it in youth are never, never effaced. Do you not remember better than anything else? Standing at your mother's knee, the pressure of her hand, her kiss on your forehead? By this time, our engine had arrived. A whistle was blowing and nearly everyone was rushing from the room in the impatient old gentleman among the first. Ms. Laura was hurriedly trying and by wishing that I could help her. The old lady and the young man were the only other people in the room, and we could not help hearing what they said. Yes, I do. He said in a thick voice, his face got very red. She is dead now. I have no mother. Poor boy. And the old lady laid her hand on his shoulder. They were standing up and she was taller than he was. May God bless you. I know you have a kind heart. I have four stalwart boys and you remind me of the youngest. If you are ever in Washington, come to see me. She gave him some name and he lifted his hat and looked as if he was astonished to find out who she was. Then he too went away and she turned to Ms. Laura. Shall I help you, my dear? If you please, said my young mistress, I can't fasten this strap. In a few seconds the bundle was done up and we were joyfully hastening to the train. It was only a few miles to Riverdale so the conductor let me stay in the car with Ms. Laura. She spread her coat out on the seat in front of her and I sat on it and looked out of the car window as we sped along through a lovely country green and fresh in the June sunlight. How light and pleasant this car was so different from the baggage car. What frightens an animal most of all things is not to see where it is going, not to know what is going to happen to it. I think that they are very like human beings in this respect. The lady had taken a seat beside Ms. Laura and as we went along she too looked out of the window and said in a low voice what is so rare as a day in June than if ever come perfect days. That is very true said Ms. Laura. How sad that the autumn must come and the cold winter. No my dear, not sad. It is but a preparation for another summer. Yes I suppose it is said Ms. Laura. Then she continued a little shyly as her companion leaned over to stroke my cropped ears. You seem very fond of animals. I am my dear. I have four horses, two cows, a tame squirrel, three dogs and a cat. You should be a very happy woman said Ms. Laura with a smile. I think I am. I must not forget my horned toad Diego when I got in California. I keep him in the greenhouse and he is very happy catching flies and holding his horny head to be scratched whenever one comes near. I don't see how anyone can be unkind to animals said Ms. Laura thoughtfully. Nor I my dear child it has always caused me intense pain to witness the torture of dumb animals. Nearly 70 years ago when I was a little girl walking I would tremble and grow faint at the cruelty of drivers to overloaded horses. I was timid and did not dare to speak to them. Very often I ran home and flung myself in my mother's arms with a burst of tears and asked her if nothing could be done to help the poor animals. With mistaken motherly kindness she tried to put the subject out of my thoughts. I was carefully guarded from seeing or hearing the cruelty but the animals went on suffering just the same and when I became a woman I saw my cowardice. I agitated the matter among my friends and told them that our whole dumb creation was groaning together in pain and would continue to groan unless merciful human beings were willing to help them. I was able to assist in the formation of several societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals and they have done good service. Not only to the horses and cows but to the nobler man. I believe that in saying to a cruel man you shall not overwork, torture, mutilate nor kill your animal or neglect to provide it with proper food and shelter. We are making him a little nearer the kingdom of heaven than he was before. For whatsoever a man soweth he shall also reap. If he sows seeds of unkindness and cruelty to man and beast no one knows what the blackness of the harvest will be. His poor horse, quivering under his blow is not the worst sufferer. Oh, if people would only understand that their unkind deeds will recoil upon their own heads with tenfold force. But my dear child, I am fancying that I am addressing a drawing room meeting. And here we are at your station. Goodbye. Keep your happy face in gentle ways. I hope we may meet again someday. She pressed Ms. Laura's hand gave me a farewell pat. In the next minute we were outside on the platform and she was smiling through the window at us. End Chapter 15 Our Journey to Riverdale Chapter 16 Dingley Farm My dear niece and a stout middle aged woman with a red lively face threw both her arms around Ms. Laura. How glad I am to see you and this is the dog. Good Joe. I have a bone waiting for you. Here is Uncle John. A tall, good looking man stepped up and put out a big hand in which my mistress' little fingers were quite swallowed up. I'm glad to see you, Laura. Well, Joe, how do you do, boy? I've heard about you. It made me feel very welcome to have them both notice me and I was so glad to be out of the train that I frisked for joy around their feet as we went to the wagon. It was a big double one with an awning over it to shelter it from the sun's rays and the horses were drawn up in the shade of a spreading tree. They were two powerful black horses and as they had no blinders on they could see us coming. Their faces lighted up and they moved their ears and pawed the ground and winnied when Mr. Wood went up to them. They tried to rub their heads against him and I saw plainly that they loved him. Steady there, Cleveland Pacer. He said, now back up. Back up. By this time Mrs. Wood, Ms. Laura and I were in the wagon. Then Mr. Wood jumped in took up the reins and off we went. How the two black horses did spin along. I sat on the seat beside Mr. Wood and sniffed in the delicious air and the lovely smell of flowers and grass. How glad I was to be in the country. What long races I should have in the green fields. I wished that I had another dog to run with me and wondered very much whether Mr. Wood kept one. I knew I should soon find out for whenever Ms. Laura went to a place she wanted to know what animals there were about. We drove a little more than a mile along a country road where there were scattered houses. Ms. Laura answered questions about her family and asked questions about Mr. Harry who was away at college and hadn't got home. I don't think I've said before that Mr. Harry was Mrs. Wood's son. She was a widow with one son when she married Mr. Wood so that Mr. Harry though the Morris is called him cousin was not really their cousin. I was very glad to hear them say that he was soon coming home for I had never forgotten that. With him I should never have known Ms. Laura and gotten into my pleasant home. By and by I heard Ms. Laura say Uncle John have you a dog? Yes Laura he said I have one today but shan't have one tomorrow. Oh Uncle what do you mean she asked. Well Laura he replied you know animals are pretty much cool. There are some good ones and some bad ones. Now this dog is a snarling cross grained contankerous beast when I heard that Joe was coming I said now we'll have a good dog about the place and here's an end to the bad one so I tied Bruno up and tomorrow I shall shoot him something's gotta be done or he'll be biting someone. Uncle said Ms. Laura people don't always die when they are bitten by dogs do they? No certainly not replied Mr. Wood in my humble opinion there's a great lot of nonsense talked about the poison of a dog's bite and people dying of hydrophobia ever since I was born I've had dogs snap at me and stick their teeth in my flesh and I've never had a symptom of hydrophobia and I never intend to have I believe half the people that are bitten by dogs frighten themselves into thinking they are fatally poisoned I was reading the other day about the policemen in the big city in England that have to catch stray dogs and dogs supposed to be mad and all kinds of dogs and they get bitten over and over again and never think anything about it but let a lady or a gentleman walking along the street have a dog bite them and they worry themselves till their blood is in a fever and they have to hurry across to France to get pasture to cure them they imagine they've got hydrophobia and they've got it because they imagine it I believe if I fixed my attention on that right thumb of mine and thought I had a sore there and picked at it and worried it in a short time a sore would come and I'd be off to the doctor to have it cured at the same time dogs have no business to bite and I don't recommend anyone to get bitten but uncle said Miss Laura isn't there such thing as hydrophobia oh yes I dare say there is I believe that a careful examination of the records of death reports in Boston from hydrophobia for the space of 32 years shows that two people actually died from it dogs are like all other animals they're liable to sickness and they've got to be watched I think my horses would go mad if I starved them or overfed them or overworked them or kept them dirty or didn't give them water enough they'd get some disease anyway if a person owns an animal let them take care of it and it's all right if it shows signs of sickness shut it up and watch it if the sickness is incurable kill it here's a sure way to prevent hydrophobia kill off all ownerless and vicious dogs if you can't do that have plenty of water where they can get it as all the water he wants will never go mad this dog of mine has not one single thing to matter with him but pure ugliness yet if I let him loose and he ran through the village with his tongue out I warrant you there'd be a cry of mad dog however I'm going to kill him I have no use for a bad dog have plenty of animals I say and treat them kindly but if there's a vicious one among them put it out of the way for it is a constant danger to man and beast it's queer how ugly some people are about their dogs they'll keep them no matter how they worry other people and even when they're snatching the bread out of their neighbor's mouths but I say that it is not the fault of the four-legged dog a human dog is the worst of all there's a band of sheep-killing dogs here in Riverdale that their owners can't or won't keep out of mischief meek-looking fellow some of them are the owners go to bed at night and the dogs pretend to go too but when the house is quiet and the family asleep off goes rover or fido to worry poor defenseless creatures that can't defend themselves their taste for sheep's blood is like the taste for liquor in men and the dogs will travel as far to get their fun as the men will travel for theirs they've got it in them and you can't get it out Mr. Windham cured his dog said Mrs. Wood Mr. Wood burst into a hearty laugh so he did so he did I must tell Laura about that Windham is a neighbor of ours and last summer I kept telling him that his colleague was worrying my Shropeshears he wouldn't believe me but I knew I was right and one night when here he was home he lay and wait for the dog I tied him up and sent for Windham you should have seen his face and the dog's face he said two words you scoundrel and the dog cowered at his feet as if he had been shot he was one fine dog but he got corrupted by evil companions then Windham asked me where my sheep were I told him in the pasture he asked me if I still had my old Ram Bolton yes and then he wanted eight or ten feet of rope I gave it to him and wondered what on earth he was going to do with it he tied one end of it to the dog's collar and holding the other in his hand set out for the pasture he asked us to go with him and when he got there he told Harry he'd like to see him catch Bolton there wasn't any need to catch him he'd come to us like a dog Harry whistled and when Bolton came up the rope's end to his horns and let him go the Ram was frightened and ran dragging the dog with him we let them out of the pasture into an open field and for a few minutes there was such a racing and chasing over that field as I never saw before Harry leaned up against the bars and laughed till the tears rolled down his cheeks then Bolton got mad and began to make battle with the dog pitching into him with his horns and stopped that for the spirit had all gone out of Dash Wyndham unfastened the rope and told him to get home and if I ever saw a dog run that one did Mrs. Wyndham set great store by him and her husband didn't want to kill him but he said Dash had got to give up his sheep killing if he wanted to live that cured him he's never worried a sheep from that day to this sheep's wool now he tucks his tail between his legs and runs for home now I must stop my talk for we're inside of the farm yonder's our boundary line and there's the house you'll see a difference in the trees since you were here before we had come to a turn in the road where the ground sloped gently upward we turned in at the gate and drove between rows of trees up to a long low red house with veranda all around it there was a white lawn in front and away on our right were the farm buildings they too were painted red and there were some trees by them that Mr. Wood called his windbreak because they kept the snow from drifting in the wintertime I thought it was a beautiful place Ms. Laura had been here before but not for some years so she too was looking about quite eagerly Welcome to Dingley Farm Joe said Ms. Wood with her jolly laugh as she watched me jump from the carriage seat to the ground come on in and I'll introduce you to Pussy Aunt Hattie, why is the farm called Dingley Farm said Ms. Laura as we went into the house it ought to be Wood Farm Dingley is made out of Dingle Laura you know that pretty hollow back of the pasture it's what they call a Dingle so this farm was called Dingle Farm till the people around about got saying Dingley instead I suppose they found it easier why here is Lolo coming to see Joe walking along the wide hall that ran through the house was a large tortoise shell cat she had a prettily marked face and she was waving her tail like a flag and mewing kindly to greet her mistress but when she saw me what a face she made she flew on the hall table and putting up her back till it almost lifted her feet from the ground began to spit at me and bristle with rage poor Lolo saying Mrs. Wood going up to her who is a good dog and not like Bruno he won't hurt you I wagged myself about a little and looked kindly at her but she did nothing but say bad words to me it was weeks and weeks before I made friends with that cat she was a young thing and had only known one dog and he was a bad one so she suppose all dogs were like him there was a number of rooms opening off the hall and one of them was a dining room where they had tea I lay on a rug outside the door and watched them there was a small table spread with a white cloth and it had pretty dishes and glassware on it and a good many different kinds of things to eat a little French girl called Adele kept coming and going from the kitchen to give them hot cakes and fried eggs and hot coffee as soon as they finished their tea Mrs Wood gave me one of the best meals that I have ever had in my life End of Chapter 16 Dingley Farm Chapter 17 and 18 of Beautiful Joe this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org this reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia Beautiful Joe by Marshall Saunders Chapter 17 Mr Wood and His Horses The morning after we arrived in Riverdale I was up very early and walking around the house I slept in the woodshed and could run outdoors whenever I liked the woodshed was at the back of the house and near it was the tool shed then there was a carriage house and a plank walk leading to the barnyard I ran up this walk and looked into the first building I came to it was the horse stable a door stood open and the morning sun was glancing in there were several horses there some with their heads toward me and some with their tails all that instead of being tied up there were gates outside their stalls and they could stand in any way they liked there was a man moving about at the other end of the stable and long before he saw me I knew that it was Mr Wood what a nice clean stable he had there was always a foul smell coming out of jink and stable but here the air seemed inside as outside there was a number of little ratings in the wall to let in the fresh air and they were so placed that drafts would not blow on the horses Mr Wood was going from one horse to another giving them hay and talking to them in a cheerful voice at last he spied me and cried out the top of the morning to you Joe you're up early come to near the horses good dog as I walked in beside him they might think you are another Bruno and give you a sly bite or kick I should have shot him long ago it is hard to make a good dog suffer for a bad one but that's the way of the world well old fella what do you think of my horse stable pretty fair isn't it and Mr Wood went on talking to me as he fed and groomed the horses till I soon found out that his chief pride was in them I like to have human beings talk to me Mr Morris often reads his sermons to me and Ms Laura tells me secrets that I don't think she would tell to anyone else I watched Mr Wood carefully while he groomed a huge gray cart horse that he called Dutchman he took a brush in his right hand and a curry comb in his left and he curried and brushed every part of the horse's skin and afterward wiped him with a cloth a good grooming is equal to two quarts of oats Joe he said to me then he stooped down and examined the horses hooves your shoes are too heavy Dutchman he said but that pig headed blacksmith thinks he knows more about horses than I do don't cut the soul nor the frog I say to him don't pair the hooves so much and don't rasp it and fit your shoe to the foot and not the foot to the shoe and he looks at me as if he wanted to say mind your own business will not go to him again it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks I got you to work for me not to wear out your strength and lifting about his weighty shoes Mr. Wood stopped talking for a few minutes and whistled a tune then he began again I've made a study of horses Joe over 40 years I've studied them and it's my opinion that the average horse knows more than the average man that drives him when I think of the stupid fools that are goading patient horses about beating them and misunderstanding them and thinking they are only clods of earth with a little life in them I'd like to take their horses out of the shafts and harness them in and I'd trot them off at a pace and slash them and jerk them till I guess they'd come out with a little less patience than does the animal look at this Dutchman see the size of him you'd think he had any more nerves than a bit of granite yet he's got a skin as sensitive as a girl's see how he quivers if I run the curry comb too harshly over him the idiot I got him from didn't know what was the matter with him he bought him for a reliable horse and there he was kicking and stamping whenever the boy went near him your boys got too heavy a hand Deacon Jones said I when he described the horse's actions to me you may depend upon it a four legged creature unlike a two legged one has a reason for everything he does but he's only a draught horse said Deacon Jones draught horse or no draught horse said I you're describing a horse with a tender skin to me and I don't care if he's as big as an elephant well the old man grumbled and said he didn't want any thoroughbred airs in his stable so I bought you didn't die Dutchman and Mr. Wood stroked him kindly and went to the next stall in each stall was a small tank of water with a sliding cover and I found out afterward that these covers were put on when a horse came in too heated to have a drink at any other time he could drink all he liked Mr. Wood believed in having plenty of pure water for all his animals and they all had their own place to get a drink even I had a little bowl of water in the woodshed though I could easily have run up to the barn yard when I wanted to drink as soon as I came Mrs. Wood asked Adele to keep it there for me and when I looked up gratefully at her she said every animal should have its own feeding place and its own sleeping place Joe that is only fair the next horses Mr. Wood groomed were the black ones Cleve and Pacer Pacer had something wrong with his mouth and Mr. Wood turned back his lips and examined it carefully this he was able to do for there were large windows in the stable and it was as light as Mr. Wood's house was no dark corners here Adele said Mr. Wood as he came out of the stall and passed me to get a bottle from a shelf when this table was built I said no dirt holes for careless men here I want the sun to shine in the corners and I don't want my horses smell bad smells for they hate them and I don't want them starting when they go into the light of day just because they've been kept in a black hole of a stable and I've never had a sick horse yet he poured something from a bottle into a saucer and went back to Pacer with it I followed him and stood outside Mr. Wood seemed to be washing a sore in the horse's mouth Pacer went that's the little and Mr. Wood said steady steady my beauty will soon be over the horse fixed his intelligent eyes on his master and looked as if he knew that he was trying to do him good just look at these lips Joe said Mr. Wood delicate and fine like our own and yet there are roots that will jerk them just as if they were made of iron I wish the Lord would give horses voices just for one week I tell you they'd scare some of us now Pacer that's over I'm not going to dose you much for I don't believe in it if a horse has got a serious trouble get a good horse doctor say I if it's a simple thing try a remedy there's been many a good horse drugged and dosed to death well scamp my beauty how are you this morning in the stall next to Pacer a small jet black mare with a lean head slender legs in the curious restless manner she was a regular greyhound of a horse no spare flesh yet wiry and able to do a great deal of work she was a wicked looking little thing so I thought I had better keep a safe distance from her heels Mr. Wood petted her a great deal and I saw that she was his favorite sauce box he exclaimed when she pretended to bite him you know if you bite me I'll bite back again I think I've conquered you he said proudly as he stroked her glossy neck but what a dance you led me do you remember how I bought you for a mere song because you had a bad habit of turning around like a flash in front of anything that frightened you and bolting off the other way then how did I cure you my beauty beat you and make you stubborn not I I let you go round and round I turned you and twisted you the oftener the better for me to lie at last guided into your pretty head that turning and twisting was addling your brains and you had better let me be master you've minded me from that day haven't you horse or man or dog aren't much good till I turn into a bay and I've thrown you down and I'll do it again if you bite me so take care scamp tossed her pretty haired and took little pieces of Mr. Wood's shirts leaving her mouth keeping her cunning brown eye on him as if to see how far she could go but she did not bite him I think she loved him for when he left her she went each really and he had to go back and stroke her after that I often used to watch her as she went about the farm she always seemed to be tugging and striving at her load and trying to step out fast and do a great deal of work Mr. Wood was usually driving her the man didn't like her and couldn't manage her she had not been properly broken in after Mr. Wood finished his work he went out and stood in the doorway there were six horses all together Dutchman, Cleave Pacer, Scamp a bay mayor called Ruby and a young horse belonging to Mr. Harry whose name was Fleetfoot what do you think of them all said Mr. Wood looking down at me a pretty fine looking lot of horses aren't they not a thoroughbred there but worth as much to me as if I had a pedigree as long as this plank walk there's a lot of homebug about this pedigree business and horses mine have their mains and tails anyway and the proper use of their eyes which is more liberty than some thoroughbreds get I'd like to see the man that would persuade me to put blinders or check reins or any other instrument of torture on my horses don't the simpletons know that blinders are the cause of I wouldn't like to say how many of our accidents Joe for fear you think me extravagant and the check rain drags up a horse's head out of its fine natural curve and presses sinews bones and joints together till the horse is well not mad ah Joe this is a cruel world for man or beast you're a standing token of that with your missing ears and tail and now I've got to go and be cruel and shoot that dog he must be disposed of before anyone else is a stir how I hate to take life he sauntered down the walk to the tool shed went in and soon came out leading a large brown dog by a chain this was Bruno he was snapping and snarling and biting at his chain as he went along though Mr. Wood led him very kindly and when he saw me he acted as if he could have torn me to pieces after Mr. Wood took him behind the barn he came back and got his gun I ran away so that I would not hear the sound of it for I could not help feeling sorry for Bruno Miss Laura's room was on one side of the house and in the second story there was a little balcony outside and when I got near I saw that she was standing out on it wrapped in a shawl her hair was streaming over her shoulders and she was looking down into the garden where there were a great many white and yellow flowers in bloom I barked and she looked at me dear old Joe I will get dressed and come down she hurried into her room and I lay on the veranda while I heard her step then I jumped up she unlocked the front door and we went for a walk down the lane to the road until we heard the breakfast bail as soon as we heard it we ran back to the house and Miss Laura had such an appetite for her breakfast that her aunt said the country had done her good already end of chapter 17 Mr. Wood and his friends Chapter 18 Mrs. Wood's Poultry after breakfast Mrs. Wood put on a large apron and going into the kitchen said have you any scraps for the hens of Dale be sure and not give me anything salty the French girl gave her a dish of food then Mrs. Wood asked Miss Laura to go see her chickens and away we went to the poultry house on the way we saw Mr. Wood he was sitting on the step of the tool shed cleaning his gun is the dog dead asked Miss Laura yes he said she sighed and said poor creature I'm sorry he had to be killed Uncle what is the most merciful way to kill a dog sometimes when they get old they should be put out of the way you can shoot them he said or you can poison them I shot Bruno through his head into his neck there's a right place to aim at it's a little one side of the top of the school if you'll remind me I'll show you a circular I have in the house it tells the proper way to kill animals the American Humane Education Society in Boston puts it out and it's a merciful thing you don't know anything about the slaughtering of animals Laura and it's well you don't there's an awful amount of cruelty practiced and practiced by some people that think themselves pretty good I wouldn't have my lambs killed the way my father had his for a kingdom I'll never forget the first one I saw butchered I wouldn't feel worse at a hanging now and that white ox Hattie you remember my telling you about him he had to be killed my father sent for the butcher I was only a lad and I was all of a shutter to have the life of the creature I had known taken from him the butcher stupid clown gave him eight blows before he struck the right place the ox bellowed and turned his great black eyes on my father and I fell in a faint Miss Laura turned away and Mrs. Wood followed her saying if you ever want to kill a cat Laura give it cyanide of potassium I killed a poor old sick cat from Mrs. Wyndham the other day we put a half teaspoon full of pure cyanide of potassium in a long handled wooden spoon and dropped it on the cat's tongue as near the throat as we could poor pussy she died in a few seconds do you know I was reading such a funny thing the other day about giving cats medicine they hate it and one can scarcely into their mouths on account of their sharp teeth the way is to smear it on their sides and they lick it off a good idea isn't it here we are at the hen house or rather one of the hen houses don't you keep your hens all together asked Miss Laura only in the winter time said Mrs. Wood I divide my flock in the spring part of them stay here in part go to the orchard to live in little movable houses that we put about in different places I feed each flock morning and evening at their own little house they know they'll get no food even if they come to my house so they stay at home and they know they'll get no food between times so all day long they pick and scratch in the orchard and destroy so many bugs and insects that it more than pays for the trouble of keeping them there doesn't this flock want to mix up with the other asked Miss Laura as she stepped into the little wooden house no they seem to understand I keep my eye on them for a while at first and they soon find out that they're not to fly either over the garden fence or the orchard fence they roam over the farm and pick up what they can get there's a good deal of sense and hens if one manages them properly I love them because they're such good mothers we were in the little wooden house by this time and I looked around it with surprise it was better than some of the poor people's houses in Fairport the walls were white and clean so were the little ladders that led up to different kinds of roosts where the foul sat at night some roosts were thin and round and some were broad and flat Mrs. Wood said that the broad ones were for a heavy foul called Brahma every part of the little house was almost as light as it was outdoors on account of the large windows Ms. Laura spoke of it why Auntie I never saw such a light hen house Mrs. Wood was diving into a partly shut in place where it was not so light and where the nests were she straightened herself up her face redder than ever and looked out the windows with a pleased smile yeah there's not a hen house in New Hampshire with such big windows whenever I look at them I think of my mother's hens and wish they could have had a place like this they would have thought themselves in a hen's paradise when I was a girl we didn't know that hens loved light and heat and all winter they used to sit in a dark hen coop and the cold was so bad that their combs would freeze stiff and the tops of them would drop off we never thought about it if we'd had any sense we might have watched them on a fine day go and sit on the compost heap and sun themselves and then have concluded that they liked light and heat outside they'd like it inside poor bitties they were so cold that they wouldn't lay us any eggs in winter you take a great interest in poultry don't you Auntie said Ms. Laura indeed and well I may I'll show you my brown leg that lays eggs enough in a year to pay for the newspapers I take to keep myself posted in poultry matters I buy all my own clothes with my hen money and lately I've started a bank account for I want to save up enough to start a few stands of bees even if I didn't want to be kind to my hens it would pay me to be so for the sake of the profit they yield of course they're quite a lot of trouble sometimes they get vermin on them and I have to grease them and dust carbolic acid on them and try some of my numerous cures then I must keep ashes and dust wallows for them and be very particular about my eggs when hens are sitting and see that the hens come off regularly for food and exercise oh there are a hundred things I have to think of but I always say anyone that thinks of raising poultry if you are going into the business for the purpose of making money it pays to take care of them there's one thing I notice said Miss Laura and that is that your drinking fountains must be a great deal better than the shallow pans that I have seen some people give their hens water in dirty things they are said Mrs. Wood I wouldn't use one of them I don't think there is anything worse for hens than drinking dirty water my hens must have as clean water as I drink myself and in winter I heat it for them if it's poured boiling into the fountains in the morning it keeps warm till night speaking of shallow drinking dishes I wouldn't use them even before I ever heard of a drinking fountain John made me something that we read about he used to take a powder keg and bore a little hole in the side about an inch from the top and then fill it with water and cover with a pan a little larger round than the keg then he turned the keg upside down without taking away the pan the water ran into the pan only as far as the hole in the keg and it would have to be used before more would flow in now let us go and see my beautiful bronze turkeys they don't need any houses for they roost in the trees the year round we found the flock of turkeys and Ms. Laura admired their changeable colors very much some of them were very large and I did not like them for the goblers ran at me and made a dreadful noise in their throats afterward, Mrs. Wood showed us some ducks that she had shut up in a yard she said that she was feeding them on vegetable food to give their flesh a pure flavor and buy and buy she would sell them to market and get a high price for them every place she took us was as clean as possible no one can be successful in raising poultry in large numbers she said unless they keep their quarters clean and comfortable as yet we had seen no hens except a few on the nests and Ms. Laura said where are they? I should like to see them they are coming said Mrs. Wood it is just their breakfast time and air as punctual as clockwork they go off early in the morning to scratch about a little for themselves first as she spoke she stepped off the plank walk and looked off towards the fields Ms. Laura burst out laughing away beyond the barns the hens were coming seeing Mrs. Wood standing there they thought they were late and began to run fly jumping over each other's backs and stretching out their necks in a state of great excitement some of their legs seem sticking straight out behind it was very funny to see them they were a fine looking lot of poultry mostly white with glossy feathers and bright eyes they greedily ate the food scattered to them and Mrs. Wood said they think I've changed their breakfast time and tomorrow they'll come a good bit earlier and yet some people say hens have no sense end of chapter 18 Mrs. Wood's poultry chapters 19 and 20 of Beautiful Joe this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org this reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia Beautiful Joe by Marshall Saunders Chapter 19 A Band of Mercy a few evenings after we came to Dingley Farm Mrs. Wood and Ms. Laura were sitting out on the veranda and I was lying at their feet Auntie said Ms. Laura what do those letters mean on that silver pen that you wear with that piece of ribbon you know what the white ribbon means don't you asked Mrs. Wood yes that you are a temperance woman doesn't it it does and the star pin means that I am a member of a band of mercy do you know what a band of mercy is no say it Ms. Laura how strange I should think that you would have several in Fairport a crippled boy the son of a Boston artist started this one here it has done a great deal of good there is a meeting tomorrow and I will take you to it if you like it was on Monday that Mrs. Wood had this talk with Ms. Laura and the next afternoon after all the work was done they got ready to go to the village may Joe go asked Ms. Laura suddenly said Mrs. Wood he is such a good dog that he won't be any trouble I was very glad to hear this and trotted along by them down the lane to the road the lane was a very cool and pleasant place there were tall trees growing on each side and under them among the grass pretty wildflowers were peeping out to look at us as we went by Mrs. Wood and Ms. Laura talked all the way about the band of mercy Ms. Laura was much interested and said that she would like to start one in Fairport it's a very simple thing said Mrs. Wood all you have to do is to write the pledge at the top of a piece of paper I will try to be kind to all harmless living creatures and try to protect them from cruel usage and get 30 people to sign it that makes a band I have formed two or three bands by keeping slips of paper ready and getting people that come to visit me to sign them I call them corresponding bands for they are too far apart to meet I send the members band of mercy papers such nice letters from them telling me of kind things they do for animals a band of mercy in a place is a splendid thing there's the greatest difference in Riverdale since this one was started a few years ago when a man beat or raised his horse and anyone interfered he said this horse is mine I'll do what I like with him most people thought he was right but now they're all for the poor horse and there isn't a man anywhere around who would dare to abuse any animal it's all the children they're doing a grand work and I say it's a good thing for them since we've studied the subject it's enough to frighten one to read what has sent us about our American boys and girls do you know Laura that with all our brag about our schools and colleges that really are wonderful we're turning out more criminals than any other civilized country in the world except Spain and Italy the cause of it is said to be lack of proper training for the youth of our land immigration has something to do with it too we're thinking too much about educating the mind and forgetting about the heart and soul so I say now while we've got all our future population in our schools saints and sinners good people and bad people let us try to slip something between the geography and history and grammar that will go a little deeper and touch them so much that when they are grown up and go out in the world they will carry with them lessons of love and goodwill to men and the child is such a tender thing you can bend it any way you like speaking of this heart education of children as set over against mind education I see that many school teachers say there is nothing better than to give them lessons on kindness to animals children who are taught to love and protect dumb creatures will be kind to their fellow men when they grow up I was very much pleased with this talk between Mrs. Wood and Mrs. Laura and kept close to them so that I would not miss a word as we went along houses began to appear here and there set back from the road among the trees soon they got quite close together and I saw some shops this was the village of Riverdale and nearly all the buildings were along the winding street the river was away back of the village we had already driven there several times we passed the school on our way it was a square white building standing in the middle of a large yard boys and girls with their arms full of books were hurrying down the steps and coming into the street two quite big boys came behind us turned around and spoke to them and asked if they were going to the band of Mercy oh yes them said the younger one I've got a recitation don't you remember yes yes excuse me for forgetting said Mrs. Wood with her jolly life and here are Dolly and Jenny and Martha she went on as some little girls came running out of a house that we were passing and joined us and looked so hard at my head and stump of a tail and my fine collar that I felt quite shy and walked with my head against Miss Laura's dress she stooped down and patted me and then I felt as if I didn't care how much they stared Miss Laura never forgot me no matter how earnestly she was talking game or doing anything she always stopped occasionally to give me a word or look to show that she knew I was near Mrs. Wood paused in front of a building on the main street a great many boys and girls were going in and we went with them we found ourselves in a large room with a platform at one end of it there were some chairs on this platform a small table a boy stood by this table with his hand on a bale presently he rang it and then everyone kept still Mrs. Wood whispered to Miss Laura that this boy was the president of the band and the young man with the pale face and curly hair who sat in front of him was Mr. Maxwell the artist's son who had formed this band of mercy the dad who presided had a ringing pleasant voice he said that they would begin their meeting by singing a hymn there was an organ near the platform and a young girl played on it while all the other boys and girls stood up and sang very sweetly and clearly after they had sung the hymn the president asked for the report of their last meeting a little girl sitting and hanging her head came forward and read what was written on a paper that she held in her hand the president made some remarks after she had finished and then everyone had to vote it was just like a meeting of grown people and I was surprised to see how good those children were they did not frolic or laugh but all seemed sober and listened attentively after the voting was over the president called upon John Turner to give a recitation this was the boy whom we saw on the way there he walked up to the platform made a bail and said that he had learned two stories for his recitation out of the paper dumb animals one story was about a horse and the other was about a dog and he thought that they were the best animal stories on record he would tell the horse story first a man in Missouri had to go to Nebraska to see about some land he went on horseback on a horse that he had trained himself and that came at his whistle like a dog on getting into Nebraska he came to a place where there were two roads one went by a river and the other went over the hill the man saw that the travel but thought he'd take the river road he didn't know that there was a quicksand across it and that people couldn't use it in spring and summer there used to be a sign board to tell strangers about it but it had been taken away the man got off his horse to letting graze and walked along till he got so far ahead of the horse that he had to sit down and wait for him suddenly he found that he was on a quicksand his feet had sunk in the sand and he could not get them out he threw himself down and whistled for his horse and shouted for help but no one came he could hear some young people singing out on the river but they could not hear him the terrible sand drew him in almost to his shoulders and he thought he was lost at that moment the horse came running up and stood by his master the man was too low down to get hold of the saddle or bridle so he took hold of the horse's tail and told him to go the horse gave an awful pull and landed his master on safe ground everybody clapped his hands and stamped when this story was finished and called out the dog story the dog story the boy bailed and smiled and began again you all know what a roundup of cattle is so I need not explain once a man down south was going to have one and he and his boys and friends were talking it over there was an ugly black steer in the herd and they were wondering whether their old yellow dog would be able to manage him the dog's name was Tyge and he lay and listened wisely to their talk the next day there was a scene of great confusion the steer raged and tore about and would allow no one to come within a whipped touch of him Tyge, who had always been brave, sulked about for a while and then as if he had got up a little spirit he made a run at the steer the steer cited him gave a bellow and lowering his horns ran at him Tyge turns tail and the young men that owned him were frantic they'd been praising him and thought they were going to have it proven false their father called out don't shoot Tyge till you see where he's running to the dog ran right to the cattle pen the steer was so enraged that he never noticed where he was going and dashed in after him Tyge leaped the wall and came back to the gate barking and yelping for the men to come in and shut the steer in they shut the gate and petted Tyge and bought him a collar with a silver plate the boy was loudly cheered and went to his seat the president said he would like to have remarks made about these two stories several children put up their hands and he asked each one to speak in turn one said that if that man's horse had had a docked tail his master wouldn't have been able to reach it and would have perished another said that if the man hadn't treated his horse kindly he would have never come at his whistle and stood over him to see what he could do to help him a third child said that the people on the river weren't as quick at hearing the voice of the man in trouble as the horse was when this talk was over the president called for some stories of foreign animals another boy came forward made his bow and said in a short abrupt voice my uncle's name is Henry Worthington he is an Englishman and once he was a soldier in India one day when he was hunting in the Punjab he saw a mother monkey carrying a little dead baby monkey six months after he was in the same jungle saw the same monkey still carrying dead baby monkey all shriveled up mother monkey loved her baby monkey give it up the boy went to his seat and the president with a queer look in his face said that's a very good story Ronald if it is true none of the children laughed but Mrs. Wood's face got like a red poppy and Miss Laura bit her lip and Mr. Maxwell buried his head in his arms his whole frame shaking the boy who told the story looked very angry he jumped up again my uncle's a true man and never told a lie in his life the president remained standing his face a deep scarlet and a tall boy at the back of the room got up and said Mr. President what would be impossible in this climate might be possible in a hot country like India and heat sometimes draw up and preserve things the president's face cleared thank you for the suggestion he said I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings but you know there is a rule in the band that only true stories are to be told here we have five more minutes for foreign stories has anyone else won end of chapter 19 a band of mercy chapter 20 stories about animals a small girl with twinkling eyes and a merry face got up just behind Ms. Laura and made her way to the front my dread fatter says she began in a piping little voice that when he was a little boy his father brought him a little monkey from the West Indies the naughty boys in the village used to tease the little monkey and he runned up a tree one day they was throwing stones at him and a man that was painting the house drove him away the monkey runned down the tree and shook hands with the man my dread fatter saw him she said with a shake of her head at the president as if he was afraid he would doubt her there was great laughing and clapping of hands when this little girl took her seat she hopped right up again and ran back oh, eye for dot she went on in her squeaky little voice that my dread fatter says that afterward the monkey upset the painter's can of oil and rolled in it and jumped down my dread fatter's flower barrel the president looked very much amused and said we have had some good stories about monkeys now let us have some more about our home animals who can tell us another story about a horse three or four bullies jumped up but the president said they would take one at a time the first one was this a riverdale boy was walking along the bank of a canal in wheatville he saw a boy driving two horses which were towing a canal boat the first horse was lazy and the boy got angry and struck him several times over the head with his whip the riverdale boy shouted across to him begging him not to be so cruel but the boy paid no attention suddenly the horse turned seized his tormentor by the shoulder and pushed him into the canal the water was not deep and the boy after floundering about for a few seconds came out dripping with mud and field and sat down on the towpath and looked at the horse with such a comical expression that the riverdale boy had to stuff his handkerchief in his mouth to keep from laughing it is hoped that he would learn a lesson said the president and be kinder to his horse in the future now bernard howe your story the boy was a brother to the little girl who had told the monkey story and he too had evidently been talking to his grandfather he told two stories and miss laura listened eagerly for they were about fairport the boy said that when his grandfather was young he lived in fairport main on a certain day he stood in the market square to see their first stage coat put together it had come from boston in pieces for there was no one in fairport to make one the coach went away up into the country one day and came back the next for a long time no one understood driving the horses properly and they came in day after day with the blood streaming from them the wiffle tree would swing round and hit them and when their collars were taken off their necks would be raw and bloody after a time the men got to understand how to drive a coach and the horses did not suffer so much the other story was about a team boat not a steam boat more than 70 years ago they had no steamers running between fairport and the island opposite where people went for the summer but they had what they called boat that is a boat with machinery to make it go that could be worked by horses there were eight horses that went around and around and made the boat go one afternoon two dancing masters who were wicked bellows that played the fiddle and never went to church on sundays got on the boat and sat just where the horses went every time the horses went by they jabbed them with their pen knives the man who was driving the horses at last saw the blood dripping from them and the dancing masters were found out some young men on the boat were so angry that they caught up a rope's end and gave the dancing masters a lashing and then threw them into the water and made them swim to the island when this boy took the seat a young girl read some verses that she had clipped from a newspaper don't kill the toads the ugly toads that hop around your door each meal the little toad doth eat a hundred bugs or more he sits around with a specked meat until the bug hath neared then shoots he forth his little tongue like lightning double geared and then he soberly doth wink and shut his ugly mug and patiently doth wait until there comes another bug Mr. Maxwell told a good dog story after this he said the president need not have any fears as to its truth for it had happened in his boarding house in the village and he had seen it himself Monday the day before being washed day his landlady had put out a large washing among the clothes on the line was a gray flannel shirt belonging to her husband the young dog belonging to the house had pulled the shirt from the line and torn it to pieces the woman put it aside and told him master would beat him when the man came home to his dinner he showed the dog the pieces of the shirt and gave him a severe weapon the dog ran away visited all the clothes lines in the village till he found a gray shirt very much like his masters he seized it and ran home laying it at his master's feet joyfully wagging his tail meanwhile Mr. Maxwell's story done a bright-faced boy called Simon Gray got up and said you all know our old gray horse Ned last week father sold him to a man in Hoytville and I went to the station where he was shipped he was put in a boxcar and a little open to give him air and were locked in that way there was a narrow sliding door four feet from the floor of the car and in some way or other old Ned pushed this door open crawled through it and tumbled out on the ground when I was coming home from school I saw him walking along the track he hadn't hurt himself except for a few cuts he was glad to see me and followed me home he must have gotten off the train when it was going full speed for he hadn't been seen at any of the stations and the train men were astonished to find the doors locked and the car empty when they got to Hoytville father got the man who bought him to release him from his bargain for he says if Ned is so fond of Riverdale he shall stay here the president asked the boys and girls to give three cheers for old Ned and then they had some more singing after they had all taken their seats he said he would like to know what the members had been doing for animals during the past fortnight one girl had kept her brother from shooting two owls that came about their barnyard she told him owls would destroy the rats and mice that bothered him in the barn but if he hunted them they would go to the woods a boy said that he had persuaded some of his friends who were going fishing to put their bait worms into a dish of boiling water to kill them before they started and also to promise him that as soon as they took their fish out of the water they would kill them by a sharp blow on the back of the head they were all the more ready to do this when he told them that their fish would taste better when cooked if they had been killed as soon as they were taken from the water into the air a little girl had gotten her mother to say that she would never again put lobsters into cold water and slowly boil them to death she had also dropped a man in the street who was carrying a pair of fouls with their heads down and asked him if he would kindly reverse their position the man told her that the fouls didn't mind and she pursed up her small mouth and showed the band how she said to him I would prefer the opinion of the hens then she said that her hens said certainly little lady and had gone off carrying them as she wanted him to she had also reasoned with different bullies outside the village who were throwing stones at birds and frogs and sticking butterflies and had invited them to come to the band of mercy this child seemed to have done more than anyone else for dumb animals she had taken around a petition to the village boys asking them not to search for bird's eggs and she had even gone into her father's stable and asked him to hold her up so that she could look into the horse's mouth to see if their teeth wanted feeling or were decayed when her father laughed at her she told him that horses often suffer a terrible pain from their teeth and that sometimes a runaway is caused by a metal bitch striking against the exposed nerve and the tooth of a horse that has become almost frantic with pain she was a very gentle girl and I thank by the way that she spoke that her father loved her dearly for she told how much trouble he had taken to make some tiny houses for her that she wanted for the rins that came about the farm she told him that those little birds are so good at catching insects that they ought to give all their time to it and not have any worry about making houses her father made their homes very small so that the English sparrows could not get in and crowd them out a boy said that he had gotten a pot of paint and painted in large letters on the fences around his father's farm spare the toads don't kill the birds every bird killed is a loss to the country that reminds me said the president to ask the girls what they have done about the millinery business my mother said a tall serious face girl that I think it is wrong to wear bird feathers and she has promised to give up wearing any of them except ostrich plumes Mrs. Wood asked permission to say a few words just here and the president said certainly we are always glad to hear from you she went up on the platform and faced the full of children dear boys and girls she began I have had some papers sent me from Boston giving some facts about the killing of our birds and I want to state a few of them to you you all know that nearly every tree and plant that grows swarms with insect life and that they couldn't grow if the birds didn't eat the insects that would devour their foliage all day long the little beaks of the birds are busy the dear little rose-breasted gross beak carefully examines the potato plants and picks off the beetles the martens destroy weevil the quail and grouse family eats the chinch bug the woodpeckers dig the worms from the trees and many other birds eat the flies and gnats and mosquitoes that torment us no flying or crawling creature escapes their sharp little lies a great Frenchman says that if it weren't for the birds human beings would perish from the face of the earth they are doing all this for us and how are we rewarding them all over America they are hunted and killed five million birds must be caught every year for the American women to wear in their hats and bonnets just think of it girls isn't it dreadful five million innocent hard working beautiful birds killed that thoughtless girls and women may ornament themselves with their little dead bodies one million bubble links have been killed one month near Philadelphia 70 song birds were sent from one Long Island village to New York milliners in Florida cruel men shoot the mother birds on their nest while they are rearing their young because their plumage is prettiest at that time the little ones cry pitifully and starve to death every bird of the rarer kind that is killed such as hummingbirds, orioles and kingfishers means the death of several others that is the young that starve to death the wounded that fly away to die and those whose plumage is so torn that it is not fit to put in a lady's fine bonnet in some cases where birds have gay wings and the hunters do not wish the rest of the body tear off the wings from the living bird and throw it away to die I am sorry to tell you such painful things but I think you ought to know them you will soon be men and women do what you can to stop this horrid trade our beautiful birds are being taken from us and the insect pests are increasing the state of Massachusetts has lost over $100,000 because it did not protect its birds the gypsy moth stripped the trees near Boston and the state had to pay out all this money and even then could not get rid of the moths the birds could have done it better than the state but they were all gone my last words to you are protect the birds Mrs. Wood went to her seat though the boys and girls had listened very attentively none of them cheered her their faces looked sad and they kept quiet for a few minutes I saw one or two little girls wiping their eyes I think they felt sorry for the birds has any boy done anything about blinders and checkrains? ask the president after a time a brown faced boy stood up I had a picnic last Monday he said father let me cut all the blinders off our head stalls with my pen knife how did you get him to consent to that? asked the president I told him said the boy that I couldn't get to sleep for thinking of him you know he drives a good deal late at night I told him that every dark night he came from Sudbury I thought of the deep ditch alongside the road and wished his horses hadn't blinders on and every night he comes from the junction and has to drive along the river bank where the water has washed away the earth till the wheels of the wagon are within a foot or two of the edge I wished again that his horses could see each side of them for I knew they'd have sense enough to keep out of danger if they could see it father said that might be very true yet his horses had been broken in with blinders and didn't I think they would be inclined to shy if he ever took them off and wouldn't they be frightened to look around and see the wagon wheels so near I told him that for every accident that happened to a horse without blinders several happened to a horse with them and then I gave him Mr. Wood's opinion Mr. Wood out at Dingla Farm he says that the worst thing against blinders is that a frightened horse never knows when he has passed the thing that scared him he always thinks it is behind him the blinders are there and he can't see he has passed it and he can't turn his head to have a good look at it so often he goes tearing madly on and sometimes lives are lost on account of a little bit of leather fastened over a beautiful eye that ought to look out full and free at the world that finished father he said he'd take off his blinders and if he had an accident he'd send the bill for damages to Mr. Wood but we had no accident the horses did act rather clearly at first and started a little but they soon got over it and now they go as steady without blinders as they ever did with them the boy sat down and the president said I think it's time that the whole nation threw off this foolishness of half covering their horses eyes just put your hands up to your eyes members of the band half cover them and see how shut in you will feel and how curious you will be what is going on beside you suppose a girl saw a mouse with her eyes half covered wouldn't she run everybody laughed and the president asked someone to tell him who invented blinders an English nobleman shouted a boy who had a wall-eyed horse he wanted to cover up the defect and I think it is a great shame that all the American horses have to suffer because that English one had an ugly eye so do I said the president three groans for blinders boys all the children in the room made three dreadful noises away down in their throats then they had another good laugh and the president became sober again seven more minutes he said this meeting has got to be let out at five sharp a tall girl at the back of the room rose and said my little cousin has two stories she would like to tell the band very well said the president bring her right along the big girl came forward leading a tiny child that she placed in front of the boys girls the child steered up into her cousin's face turning and twisting her white pinafore through her fingers every time the big girl took her pinafore away from her she picked it up again began nanny said the big girl kindly well cousin Eleanor said the child still topsy graham's pony well topsy would run away and a big big man came out to papa and said he would train topsy so he drove her every day and beat her and beat her till he was tired but still topsy would run away then papa said he would not have the poor pony whip so much and he took her out a piece of bread every day and he petted her and now topsy is very gentle and never runs away tell about tiger said the girl well cousin Eleanor said the child you know tiger our big dog he used to be a bad dog and when doctor fair child drove up to the hails he jumped up and bit at him doctor fair child used to speak kindly to him and throw out bits of meat and now when he comes tiger follows behind and wags his tail now give me a kiss the girl had to give her a kiss right up there before everyone and what a stamping the boys made the larger girl blushed and hurried back to her seat with the child clinging to her hand there was one more story about a brave newfoundland dog that saved eight lives by swimming out to a red sailing vessel and getting a rope by the man came ashore and then a lad got up whom they all greeted with cheers and cries of the poet the poet I didn't know what they meant till Miss Wood whispered to Miss Laura that he was a boy who made rhymes and the children had rather hear him speak than anyone else in the room he had a snub nose and freckles and I think he was the plainest boy there but that didn't matter if the other children loved him he sauntered up to the front with his hands behind his back in a very grand manner the beautiful poetry recited here today he drawled put some verses in my mind that I never had till I came here today everyone present cheered wildly and he began in a sing song of a waste I am a band of mercy boy I would not hurt a fly I always speak to dogs and cats whenever I pass them by I always let the birdies sing I never throw a stone I always give a hungry dog a nice meaty bone I wouldn't drive a bob tailed horse nor hurry up a cow I then he forgot the rest the boys and girls were so sorry they called out pig goat, calf sheep, hens, ducks and all the other animals names they could think of but none of them was right and as the boy had just made up the poetry no one knew what the next could be he stood for a long time staring at the ceiling then he said I guess I'll have to give it up the children looked dreadfully disappointed perhaps you'll remember it by our next meeting said the president anxiously possibly said the boy but probably not I think it is gone forever and he went to his seat the next thing was to call for new members miss Laura got up and said she would like to join their band of mercy I followed her up to the platform while they pinned a little badge on her and everyone laughed at me then they sang God bless our native land and the president told us that we might all go home it seemed to me a lovely thing for those children to meet together to talk about kindness to animals they all had bright and good faces and many of them stopped to pat me as I came out one little girl gave me a biscuit from her school bag Mrs. Wood waited at the door till Mr. Maxwell came limping out on his crutches she introduced him to miss Laura and asked him if he wouldn't go and take tea with them he said he would be very happy to do so and then Mrs. Wood laughed and asked him if he hadn't better empty his pockets she didn't want a little toad jumping over her tea table as one did last time he was there end of chapter 20 stories about animals