Instantly flying into a passion, he drew his knife from his pocket and gashed her mouth far back on either side.
Such a sorry sight as she was when he, shamefacedly, led her into the stall, blood running in a stream from either side of her face.
It was not the pain--and there was plenty of that, and inconvenience, too, during the weeks following--so much as it was the injustice and cruelty that hurt sensitive, high-mettled Topsy.
There was a stormy interview between uncle and nephew in the barn, while the lacerated mouth was being sewed and dressed.
"If there was a law in this state that would touch such fellows as you are, I'd use it on you," cried Master hotly, "and there will be one; mark it!"
That fall Master was elected to the legislature--whatever that is--and was gone pretty nearly all winter.
I did not like it at all; for though Chet dare not injure me outright, he was at times very disagreeable, and I never felt safe a minute about the other animals. I did hope he would go off and study medicine, as he sometimes talked of doing.
When Master came home to stay he seemed quite elated over some law they had made for the protection of dumb brutes, but he said it would be a long while before officials generally would be faithful in its enforcement.
That was an unusually busy spring with the doctors, and Chet managed the farm to suit himself. Among other barbarous things he did, and allowed to be done by Paddy, who had come to work for us, was tying the young calves to stakes and leaving them there without food or water for hours. Of course, at first there was a little grass for them to nibble, but this was soon gone. Often their ropes became wound around the stakes until they could only stand helpless, with their heads drawn closely down.
One pretty little heifer ("Rosebud," Bobby called her) was thus tied, and getting wound up, died a slow, torturous death. After this event he put all the young animals in a small, barren lot, where the scenes of the days of the Stringers were re-enacted. Day and night there were piteous calls for something besides dry hay. Once a day a large trough was filled with water, but this the older, stronger animals quickly drank up, and the younger, weaker ones had to go without.