Bred of the Desert: A Horse and a Romance Page 6

  CHAPTER VI

  THE FIRST GREAT LESSON

  Helen spent much time in the society of the horse. Aside from attendingto his wants, such as food and water, she more than once took comb andbrush in hand and gave him a thorough cleaning. This invariably broughta grin to the ugly features of Miguel, and when the Judge was present,which was not often, a smile of delight mixed with derision to his ruddyfeatures. But never would Helen permit them to discourage her. She wouldbrush and curry Pat till his coat shone like new-mined coal, and then,after surveying the satiny sheen critically, she would comb out his longtail, sometimes braid his glossy mane, and, after that, scour his hoofstill they were as clean and fresh as the rest of him. In her pride forhim she liked to do these things, and often regretted that he did notrequire her attention more than he did.

  One day, with characteristic suddenness, she decided to have him brokento saddle. Therefore, next morning, three horse-breakers--oneprofessional and two assistants--armed with ropes and saddles, appearedin the corral. Pat was sunning himself in his corner, and at theirentrance only cocked his ears and blinked his eyes lazily. Outside theinclosure Helen, together with a scattering of spectators, attracted bythe word of this treat in town, stood quietly expectant. One of theassistants, a raw-boned individual with hairy wrists, drove Pat out ofhis corner, while the professional, a large man of quiet demeanor,turned to Miguel, who was standing in the stable door, and put aquestion to him. Miguel, out of his own experience, warned them againstthe horse. Whereupon the large man neatly roped Pat, settling the nooseskilfully around the horse's neck.

  Instantly Pat was a quivering bundle of nerves. Bracing his legs, hedrew back on the rope. But the man held to it grimly. The man did more.He suddenly raced across the inclosure, gave the rope a deft twist, andfollowed the twist with a vigorous jerk. Pat plunged heavily to theground.

  He lay dazed, breathing laboriously, till the rope slackened. Then hestarted to rise. But he only gained his fore legs. The second assistant,a slender youth, resisted his efforts, forcing Pat's head back bysitting upon it. Pat twisted and writhed to throw him off. But the manstayed with him, and finally had him prone to earth again. Whereupon Patexperienced the chagrin of his first defeat. Yet he could see. Upon theretina of each eye danced a picture. It was that of his mistress,surrounded by open-mouthed spectators, outside the fence, gazing downupon him with seeming approval. This once, but only this once, he feltdislike for her.

  One of the men approached with a halter. Pat had seen these things inthe stable, and he instinctively knew what they were for. But he wouldnot accept this one. Embittered by his fall, chafing under the weightupon his head, he struggled so successfully that he finally dislodgedthe man. Then he sprang to his feet again, and, trembling in every part,glared savagely at his tormentors.

  "Better give him a twist," quietly suggested the professional.

  Pat heard the remark. But he did not understand, and so remained quiet.Presently he felt a light hand creeping up along his neck, pausing,patting him, creeping along farther, pausing and patting him again. Itwas not unpleasant, and under the soothing influence he came to believethat his tormentors had experienced a change of attitude. But he wasmistaken. Suddenly his ear was gripped as in a vise. Also, it wastwisted sharply, once, twice, and then held in a relentless grip. Hestood still as death. Up and down his spine, from his ear to his tail,coursed shrieking pain, hacking him like the agony of a thousandtwisting knives. Under the terror of it he stopped breathing--stoppedtill he must breathe or swoon. Then he did take air, in short, faintgasps, but each gasp at terrible cost. And standing thus, fearing tomove, he accepted the halter. He could do naught else.

  The raw-boned assistant turned to Helen apologetically. "Lively hoss,Miss Richards," he declared. "Reckon we're in for a little exercise."And he grinned.

  Anxiously Helen mounted the fence, standing upon a lower board. "Youwon't hurt him, I hope--that is, needlessly! I don't want that, youknow!" And she gazed at Pat with pitiful eyes.

  The other laughed. "No; 'tain't that," he hastened to reassure her."He's lively--that's all."

  The professional looked Pat over speculatively, and again made asuggestion. "Better blindfold him, Larry," he said.

  Pat heard this as he had heard the other. And because he was coming toknow this man's voice, and to interpret it correctly, despite the agonyit cost him he went on his guard, spreading and bracing his legs asagainst shock. He did not receive shock, however. Merely a piece of softflannel was tucked gently under his halter and drawn carefully over hiseyes. Against the soft pressure of it he closed his eyes. As he did sothe hand released his ear. Conscious of sweet relief from the dread painnow, he opened his eyes again, only to discover that he could not see!

  Here was new distress! He did not understand it. He knew that his eyeswere open; knew that it was the time of sunshine; knew with grimcertainty that he was awake. Yet he could not see! He flung up his head;tossed it across and back; flung it down again. Yet the unnaturaldarkness! He took to pawing the ground. He began to recall hissurroundings before this strange darkness had descended upon him--thegirl outside the fence, the spectators upon the fence, the tormentorsinside the fence, the glorious sunlight, the distant shimmeringmountains, the stable and outhouses and cottage. But all were gone fromhim now. Everything was black with the blackness of night! Again hetossed his head--and again and again. But still the darkness! He wasafraid.

  Here came a change. Across his vision leaped sudden flashing lights,myriads of them, dancing strangely before him. Gripped in new fear, hewatched them closely, saw them hurry, pause, hurry again, all indazzling array. They kept it up. Breathlessly he saw them dart to andfro, speed near, whirl and twist, until out of sheer distress he closedhis eyes for relief. But he got no relief. He saw the lights as before,saw them dancing and pirouetting before his eyes, and suddenly whiskaway, as though satiated with their fiendishness. But they left him limpand faint and with a throbbing pain in his head. Again he stamped theearth and shook his head. But the darkness clung. He could not throw offthe thing before his eyes. Yet he persisted. He tossed his head untildizziness seized him. Then he stopped all effort and relaxed. His headbegan to droop; he let it droop, low and lower, until he smelled theearth. This aroused him. His spirit of fight rose again. He jerked uphis head, sounded a defiant outcry, stiffened his legs for action. Thisfor a moment only, for he did not act--somehow felt it was not yet time.But he gave way to a grim restlessness. He took to rocking like achained elephant--from right hind to left fore, from left hind to rightfore legs--changing, always changing.

  "Well, old son," came a voice on his chaotic thoughts, "we've just founda bridle that'll suit. But it took us a mean long time to do it, didn'tit?"

  Pat stopped swaying. He stopped suddenly, as one checked by a mightyforce. And so he was. For he knew now that the time had come. Here washis tormentor! Here was one of them within reach! The time had come tostrike, to strike this man, to crush him to earth, to kill the cause ofhis suffering--

  "Here, hoss," went on the voice, soothingly, the while Pat smelled asomething of the stable underneath his nose. "Go to it! It's rightharmless--now, ain't it?" Which it seemed to be from the smell.

  But Pat struck--reared with the speed of lightning and struck.

  The blow was unexpected. It sent the man spinning, whirling across theinclosure. He dropped into a corner like a log.

  There was a tense moment. Spectators sat dazed; horsemen stood rigid;the girl screamed. Then the large man ran to the prostrate form. He bentover, gazed briefly, straightened up with a reassuring smile. Presentlythe assistant arose and, rubbing his shoulder ruefully, caught up thefallen bridle. Soon the work of breaking was resumed as though nothinghad happened.

  Pat was standing motionless. But he was keenly alert. He heard the mandraw near, felt the hand creeping along his neck, but he had learned hislesson well. He reared and struck again--this time only empty air. Yet,as he returned to earth, almost before he touched ground, the han
d wasaround his ear, another was around his other ear, he was feeling thedread twist again, twofold. Every twitch of muscle, every least gasp forair, sent excruciating pain throughout the ends of him. Fearing to move,yet clamoring for breath, he slowly opened his mouth.

  Which was what they wanted, evidently. He felt a cold something suddenlythrust between his teeth. It was hard as well as cold. He tasted it,rolled it over his tongue, and found it not painful. Then came somethingelse. His head was being hurriedly fitted with a leathery contrivance.But neither was this painful, save only as it touched his twisted ears,and he therefore experienced no increasing alarm. Then, with thisadjusted, he was introduced to something else--a something held closeunder his nose. He smelled this carefully; noted that it reeked withodors of the stable; smelled it again. Next he knew it was being placedgently upon his back. It was soft, and quite hairy, and though itirritated him a little, he accepted it without loss of composure. Butwhen it was followed, as it was directly, by a heavier something, asomething fitting his back snug and hard, he instantly determined torebel, despite his twisted ears. But he could not withstand theincreased pain, and he permitted the thing to be made secure with strapsaround his body. And now came a heavier something, a free and looseweight, something with spring and give to it, and which had flung upfrom the ground. And suddenly, flaying his pained senses, understandingflashed upon him. This was a man. There was a tormentor upon his back,gripping the thing in his mouth, holding him solidly to the ground. He--

  "Go!"

  It was a word of command. With the word Pat felt his ears released. Ashe thrilled with relief the cloth was jerked off his eyes. For a timethe fierce daylight blinded him. Then the pupils of his eyes contractedand all objects stood out clearly again--the men in the corral, thespectators on the fence, his mistress outside the fence. Also he saw thesunlit stable, and Miguel in the doorway, and the house in the trees.All had come back to him, and he stood gazing about him blinkingly,trying to understand, conscious of straps binding his body andrestraining his breathing.

  Then suddenly he understood--remembered--remembered that he had beenabused, had been tortured as never before. And he awoke to the fact thathe was still being tortured. There was this thing in his mouth. Therewas this contraption on his head. There was that thing on his back, andthe weight upon the thing. Also, there was that binding of his belly,and the irritation due to the prickly something pressing his back andsides. All these facts stung him, and under the whip of them he awoke toa mighty urging within. It was his fighting spirit rekindling--the thingthat was his birthright, the thing come down to him from his ancestors,the thing that told him to rebel against the unnatural. And heedingthis, voice, heeding it because he knew no other, he decided to givedecisive battle.

  In a frenzy of effort he suddenly reared. He pirouetted on hind legs;pawed the air with fore legs; lost his balance. Failing to recoverhimself, he went over backward. He struck the earth resoundingly, but herealized that the weight was gone, and he felt a faint glow of victory!

  "Wow!" yelled a spectator, excitedly.

  Pat heard this and hastily regained his feet. And because he wasuncertain of his next move he remained motionless. This was a mistake,as he soon discovered. For he saw two men leap, grasp both his ears;felt the dread twist again. So he remained still, and he felt the manmount again. Then came rumbling in upon his tortured soul again theinsistent voice telling him to rebel further, and to keep on rebellinguntil through sheer brute strength he had mastered these unnaturalthings. With the grip on his ears released he once more gave heed tothis clamoring within.

  He leaped straight up into the air. Returning to earth withnerve-shattering shock, he whirled suddenly, pitched and bucked, tossedand twisted, all in mad effort. But the weight clung fast. He whirledagain, and again leaped, leaped clear of the ground, returning to itthis time on stiffened legs. But he could not shake off the weight. Heflung across the corral, twisting, writhing, bucking; flung backagain--heart thumping, lungs shrieking for air, muscles wrenching andstraining; and again across, responding, and continuing to respond, tothe ringing voice within, like the king of kings that he was. But hecould not dislodge the weight.

  "Great!" yelled an excited spectator.

  "See that hoss sunfishin'!" burst out another.

  "An' corkscrewin'!" added a third.

  "Better 'n a outlaw!" amplified a fourth.

  And now the first again: "Stay with him, Alex! I got two dollars--Oh,hell!"--this disgustedly. "Come out o' that corner!" Then suddenly heturned, face red as fire, and apologized to Helen. "I beg your pardon,Miss Richards," he offered, meekly. But he turned back to the spectacleand promptly forgot all else in his returning excitement. "Shoot it tohim, Alex!" he yelled. "Shoot it; shoot it! He's a helldinger, thathoss!" Frenziedly he then yawped, cowboy fashion:"Whe-e-e-o-o-o-yip-yip! Whe-e-e-o-o-o-yip-yip!"

  Yet Helen--poor Helen!--had not heard. Holding her breath in tense fear,eyes upon her pride fighting his fight of pride, half hopeful that hewould win, yet fearful of that very thing, she watched the strife of manskill against brute strength, keyed up almost to snapping-point.

  But her horse did not win. Neither did he lose. She saw him take up, oneafter another, every trick known to those familiar with horses, and shemarveled greatly at his unexpected knowledge of things vicious. Alongone side of the inclosure, across the side adjacent to it, back alongthe side opposite to the second, then forward along the firstagain--thus round the corral--he writhed and twisted in mighty effort,bucking and pitching and whirling and flinging, the while the sun rosehigher in the morning sky. Spectators clambered down from the fence,stood awhile to relieve cramped muscles, clambered on the fence again;but the horse fought on; coat necked with white slaver, glistening withstreaming sweat in the sunlight, eyes wild, mouth grim, ears back, hefought on and on till it seemed that he must stop through sheerexhaustion. But still he fought, valiantly, holding to the battle until,with a raging, side-pitching twist, one never before seen, he lost hisfooting, plunged to the ground, tore up twenty feet of earth, crashedheadlong into the fence, ripped out three boards clean as though struckby lightning--lay motionless in a crumpled heap.

  The man was thrown. He arose hastily. As he wiped away his perspirationand grime he saw blood on his handkerchief. He was bruised and bleeding,and wrenched inwardly, yet when Pat, returning to consciousness, hastilygained his feet, the man leaped for the horse, sounding a muffled curse.But he did not mount. And for good reason. For Pat was reeling like adrunken man--head drooping, fore parts swaying, eyes slowly closing. Atthe sight one of the spectators made a plea in Pat's behalf.

  "Whyn't you take him outside?" he demanded. "Into the open. This ain'tno place to bust a horse like him! That horse needs air! Get him outinto about three-quarters of these United States! Git ginerous! Gitginerous! I hate a stingy man!"

  Whereupon Helen at last found voice. "Wait!" she cried, evenly, and,turning, sped along the fence to the gate. Inside the corral she hurriedto the horse and flung her arms around his neck. "Pat dear," she began,tenderly, "I am so sorry! But it's 'most over with now, if you'll onlyaccept it! Can't you see, Pat? It is so very necessary to both of us!For then I myself can ride you! Please, Pat--please, for my sake!"Whereupon Pat, as if all else were forgotten--all the torture, all thestruggle and shock--nickered softly and nuzzled her hands for sugar andapples. Suppressing a smile, and accepting this as a good omen, shestroked him a few times more and then stepped back. "Later, dear!" shepromised and left him, suddenly mindful of spectators. But, though shefelt the blood rush into her cheeks, she did not leave the inclosure.The horse-breaker stepped resolutely to Pat and, laying firm hands uponthe bridle, waited a moment, eying Pat narrowly, then flung up into thesaddle. Pat's sides heaved, his knees trembled, but he did not resist.Eyes trained upon his mistress, as if he would hold her to her promise,he set out peacefully, and of his own volition, across the inclosure.Further, even though he could not see his mistress now, he turned inresponse to the rein and started back
across the inclosure. And he keptthis up, holding to perfect calm, breaking into a trot when urged to it,falling back into a walk in response to the bridle, round and round andround until, with a grunt of satisfaction, the man dismounted closebeside the girl and handed her the reins.

  "Rides easy as a single-footer, Miss Richards," he declared. "Where canI wash up?"

  Which ended Pat's first great lesson at the hands of man. But thoughthis lesson had its values, since he was destined to serve mankind, yethe had learned another thing that held more value to him as an animalthan all the teachings within the grasp of men--he had learned theinevitable workings of cause and effect. His nose was scraped and hisknees were scraped, and all these places burned intensely. And,intelligent horse that he was, he knew why he suffered these burns--knewthat he had brought them about through his own sheer wilfulness. True,he was still girt with bands and straps, and in a way they wereuncomfortable. But they did not pain him as the wounds pained him. Notthat he reasoned all this out. He was but a dumb animal, and purereasoning was blissfully apart from him. But he did know the differencebetween what had been desired of him and what he himself had brought onthrough sheer wilfulness. Thus he awakened, having learned this lessonwith his headlong plunge into the fence, and having added to the lessonof the futility of rebellion the very clear desires of his mistress.Other and less intelligent horses would have continued to respond to theancestral voice within till death. But Pat was more than such a horse.

  With the men gone, he revealed his intelligence further. Helencommissioned Miguel to fit him with her saddle and bridle, then hurriedherself off to the house. Returning, clad in riding-habit and with handsfull of sugar and quartered apples, she fed these delectables to himtill his mouth dripped delightful juices. Then, while yet he munched thesweets, she mounted fearlessly. Sitting perfectly still for a time toaccustom him to her weight, she then gave him the rein and word. Withouthesitation he responded, stepping out across the inclosure,acknowledging her guiding rein in the corner, returning to thestarting-place and, with the word, coming to a stop. It was all verybeautiful, rightly understood, and, thrilled with her success, Helen satstill again, sat for a long time, gazing soberly down upon him. Then shebent forward.

  "Pat," she began, her voice breaking a little with emotion suddenlyoverwhelming her, "this begins our real friendship and understanding.Let us try to make it equal"--she straightened up, narrow eyes offtoward the mountains--"equal to the best that lies within us both."