made a bow, 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 two of 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 went over the hill, 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 let him 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 bowed and smiled, and began again. "You all know what a
'round-up' 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 Tige, 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 whip touch of him. Tige,
who had always been brave, skulked about for a while, and then, as if
he had got up a little spirit, he made a run at the steer. The steer
sighted him, gave a bellow, and,