When she came, he told her what the horse had done.

The recital roused the woman's temper to almost equal heat with his own; and standing one each side of the poor beast, they both abused it.

They abused its dead mother, they insulted its father; they made cutting remarks about its personal appearance, its intelligence, its moral sense, its general ability as a horse.

The animal bore the torrent with exemplary patience for awhile; then it did the best thing possible to do under the circumstances.

Without losing its own temper, it moved quietly away.