1884.] ON THE FRENCH BROAD. 531 " Now talk to him and see if he don't understand you." • " Sam, my boy, do you want to go home?" I asked; and Sam bowed his head in assent. " If I take you along will you behave like a gentleman ?" Another bow was the prompt reply. " Now ask him something that tct quires ' no' for an answer." " Are you afraid to swim the Ivy?" He shook his head instantly, but, thinking he might not have understood me, and seeing the advantage of having the wild youth fully pledged to good behavior, I changed the form of the ^■^.:^^ MARSHALL, NORTH CAROLINA. previous question : " Will you run away with me and break my neck?" A shake of the head, twice repeated, was the prompt reply. Then I put my arm about his neck, and he put his face against mine and stroked my beard in a fondlinir manner. You and I are going to be good friends, Sam," I said, patting him affectionately. Instantly he nodded his head very decidedly by way of affirmation. I concluded that the pony had been trained to distinguish between questions meant to be answered "yes" and " no" from the inflections of the voice ; but I am simply recording a fact, and I leave it to those who deny to brutes an intelli- gence less in degree, but similar in kind,
