Master says there is nothing uncertain about the future of such men. I don't quite know what he means, do you?
Minnie Winters professed to be "not over strong"—these were Mrs. Wallace's words—and the latter frequently asked Dr. Dick to let her sister go with us when we were out for short drives. He could hardly refuse. Of course, I heard every word of their conversations and noticed how commonplace all the doctor's remarks were, and how adroitly he parried all sentimental or even personal allusion on his companion's part; but nevertheless I was uneasy. I did not think so badly of Minnie, but Mrs. Wallace I believed capable of any treachery.
After a while I remarked that all the men and boys about the livery stable smiled significantly when my master came in; and by and by, when he was out, I heard them saying among themselves that he was going to marry Miss Winters.
Remembering the past as I did, I was sure they were mistaken; but still the way Dr. Fred had done had somewhat shaken my confidence in men. Indeed, I worried not a little, and one day when my master announced that he was going to Chicago for some weeks, I could not decide whether the move meant bad or ill. The last thing before starting he caressed me and whispered loving words in my ear. Surely he could not do that, I thought, if he were untrue.
It seemed a different world to me when he was gone. Mrs. Wallace and her sister used me continually, and I had no idea that women could be such merciless creatures.
They demanded that I trot all the time, up hill and down, and then kept up a continual nagging that made me quite frantic. My mouth was all sore and chafed from the ceaseless jerking and slashing of my back with the lines; and, no matter how strictly I obeyed them, it was all wrong.
Part of the time they rode on my back. The saddle did not fit me, and there was a rough place inside that wore a sore. Nobody noticed this, though; in fact, I was scarcely curried or rubbed at all. Every time the saddle went on my back I grew worse, until one day the pain became unendurable and I ran away.
Think of me, Dandy, running away! I left Miss Minnie in a heap by a roadside, but on I went, that wretched saddle tearing deeper into me every moment.
Somebody saw me, and called out:
"Dr. Dick's Dandy running away, as I live!"