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Page 64
The horse saw John and gazed at him out of great, mild, limpid eyes. The
young American thought he beheld fright there and the desire for
companionship. The animal, probably belonging to some farmer who had
fled before the armies, had wandered into the battle area, seeking the
human friends to whom he was so used, and nothing living was more
harmless than he. He reminded John in some ways of those stalwart and
honest peasants who were so ruthlessly made into cannon food by the
gigantic and infinitely more dangerous Tammany that rules the seventy
million Germans.
The horse walked nearer and the look in his eyes became so full of
terror and the need of man's support that for the time he stood as a
human being in John's imagination.
"Poor old horse!" he called, "I'm sorry for you, but your case is no
worse than mine. Here we both are, wishing harm to nobody, but with a
million men shooting over our backs."
The horse, emboldened by the friendly voice, came nearer and nuzzled at
the human friend whom he had found so opportunely, and who, although so
much smaller than himself, was, as he knew, so much more powerful. This
human comrade would show him what to do and protect him from all harm.
But John took alarm. He too found pleasure in having a comrade, even if
it were only a horse, but the animal would probably attract the
attention of scouts or skirmishers. He tried to shoo him away, but for a
long time the horse would not move. At last he pulled a heavy bunch of
grass, wadded it together and threw it in his face.
The horse, staring at him reproachfully, turned and walked away. John's
lively fancy saw a tear in the huge, luminous eye, and his conscience
smote him hard.
"I had to do it, Marne, old fellow," he called. "You're so big and you
stick up so high that you arouse attention, and that's just what I don't
want."
He had decided to call the horse Marne, after the river near by, and he
noticed that he did not go far. The animal, reassured by John's friendly
after-word, began to crop the grass about twenty feet away. He had a
human friend after all, one on whom he could rely. Man did not want to
be bothered by him just then, but that was the way of man, and he did
not mind, since the grass was so plentiful and good. He would be there,
close at hand, when he was needed.
John was really moved by the interlude. The loneliness, and then the
friendliness of the horse appealed to him. He too needed a comrade, and
here he was. He forgot, for a time, the moaning of the shells over his
head, and began to think again about his escape. So thinking, the horse
came once more into his mind. He showed every sign of grazing there
until dark came. Then why not ride away on him? It was true that a
horse was larger and made more noise than a fugitive man slipping
through the grass, but there were times when strength and speed,
especially speed, counted for a lot.
The last hours of the afternoon waned, trailing their slow length,
minute by minute, and throughout that time the roar of the battle was as
steady as the fall of Niagara. It even came to the point that John paid
little attention to it, but the sport of kings, in which thousands of
men were ground up, they knew not why, went merrily on. None of the
shells struck near John, and with infinite joy he saw the coming of the
long shadows betokening the twilight. The horse, still grazing near by,
raised his head more than once and looked at him, as if it were time to
go. As the sun sank and the dusk grew John stood up. He saw that the
night was going to be dark and he was thankful. The Marne was merely a
silver streak in the shadow, and in the wood near by the trees were
fusing into a single clump of darkness.
He stood erect, stretching his muscles and feeling that it was glorious
to be a man with his head in the air, instead of a creature that
grovelled on the ground. Then he walked over to the horse and patted him
on the shoulder.
"Marne, old boy," he said, "I think it's about time for you and me to
go."
The horse rubbed his great head against John's arm, signifying that he
was ready to obey any command his new master might give him. John knew
from his build that he was a draught horse, but there were times in
which one could not choose a particular horse for a particular need.
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