One day I had to have the horse to help me get the cows out of the Slough where the water was up to over their knees. Papa wanted me to bring them home. But the cows loved the grass that grew above the water, and I found I couldn't get them to move out of the Slough. All they wanted was to keep on grazing on that delicious, juicy grass. What was I to do? I had to get them home! The only thing I could think of was to command my horse, "Bite 'em!" Well, guess what? My horse actually bit the cows in their tails! And did they ever scramble to get out of that Slough then! I still see it. Usually, though, it was our dog Denver, who could really herd the cows. Papa would command Denver to get the cows, and the dog would run and find the cattle, over a mile away sometimes, and round them up. There was a lot of cattle then--seven milking cows and then the calves. And of course there would be the bulls. We had a dog named Fanny also and she was such a good dog. She could really dig up gophers out on the Prairie.

Horses Can be Hazardous to Health

It was a nice, sunny day. I was riding my horse home and he went too close to a telephone pole. My shoe scraped against it and made a noise that startled the horse. All of a sudden he reared up in the air, and I slid and fell off onto my back. I hit the ground so hard I saw stars. I thought I could have broken my back. I lay there a while, and then with the Lord's help I got up. I saw the horse had continued down over the hill, and was standing looking back toward me, his head held way up. Just as soon as he saw I was on my feet, he must have been satisfied I was okay because he turned away and started eating grass.

Skunk in the Henhouse!

Papa had a way to deal with skunks that likek to burrow into the henhouse. The floor was all dirt, so they could easily get in that way. Can you imagine the smell they could make, and the chickens would be so upset they wouldn't lay! He knew how to set traps for them, however. He would put a trap in the skunk's hole. But one time he went to check the trap to see if he had caught one. Yes, there was a skunk in the trap. But just then it sprayed him right in the face, and even in his eyes. He ran to the house and screamed for us to come out with a bucket of water. I ran out with a bucket of water, and he washed out his eyes, which were burning terribly. We brought him a change of clothes, and then he went behind a shed and buried his clothes. Later, he could come and dig them up, so we could wash them. Burying them in the dirt would take out the smell. Another time, I encountered a skunk underneath the granary. We kids were playing Hide and Go Seek at night when I looked and saw two eyes of a skunk peering at me in the dark. I couldn't see the animal, just its eyes, but I was scared it would spray on me like it did my Dad. That was the end of Hide and Go Seek that night!