How Miss Lake's Circus Horses were Restored—Music under Disadvantages—A Lady's Adventure with an Intelligent Horse—The Horse who got his Mate out of Trouble—Friendship of a Bull and a Donkey—Intelligence of the Donkey—His Affection—Glen. Dix's Pet—How Dr. Hammond's Mule saved his Life—Old Jennie—Uncle Jake's dumb Critters—Cruelty of Blinders and Check-reins—Anecdote of Macadam—Torture by Thoughtlessness—Cobweb and Major in Harness.
One of the stories told daring the evening was about the seizure of some circus horses in Nashville, Tennessee, at the time of the American civil war. Lake and North's Circus was performing there during the winter of 1864, while the town was held by the Northern army and threatened by the Confederates.
“At 9 o'clock on the morning of the 6th of December the company was in the practice ring, drilling for a new grand entry. They had nineteen ring horses, including three black stallions, which Miss Lake, the daughter of one of the proprietors, used to drive in a manège act, and which she had trained herself on her father's Kentucky farm, and loved as a Kentucky girl will love her horses.
“The band had just finished the first bar when in stalked an officer of the army, and called Lake aside.
“'You have nineteen horses here, I see,' he said; 'one of them is lame; we don't want him, but the others are confiscated. Rather a fine lot. Suppose we say a hundred apiece for them.' Then he made out a requisition on the Treasury for $1800—handed it to Lake, called in his men, and in five minutes left the company with a show on its hands and only one lame horse to do all the equestrian business.
“Miss Lake cried and some of the men used hard language, but all the same, for four days they gave a show twice a day with that one lame horse. Then Miss Lake got desperate. She was a mere girl, and with a girl's audacity she did a thing which an older person would have considered the wildest folly.
“'John,' she said to the clown, 'I'm going to General Wilson to get my horses. I want them and they want me.'
