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Barney’s Big Mistake
My name is Barney. I live with my master and his wife a couple miles out of town. “Uncle Eph,” is the name everyone calls him. He is a man with a great heart. He is crazy about his wife, Ruth. We have a good life together.
Every day I pull the wagon with the milk cans and take Uncle Eph to town. Even though he doesn’t sing very good, he does it anyway, in a big voice. “In the sweet by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore....” I can tell when his tears start because his off key voice slides up to a higher pitch. When he can’t sing anymore, he starts to pray.
“Oh, Jesus! Jesus! You are so wonderful! Someday I’ll see You, face to face...” and he switches to singing again. “...and tell the story, Saved by Grace....”
He does that all the way to town. Sometimes he tells the Lord about his Ruth, and how much he loves her. She is such a soft lady to snuggle, he says, that he just has to hug her every chance he gets. And, her neck, when he kisses her there, has the fragrance of the flower garden. Oh, how he loves his sweet little wife, even more after all these years. Other times, he thanks God for his daughter, and the grandchildren, and all the rest of his family, brothers, sisters, neighbors, friends. Of course, he always thanks the Lord for me, his faithful horse, Barney. Did I tell you he has a great heart?
We go through this routine day after day, except for Sunday, when I take my master and his wife to church. But, on the other days, we go first to the creamery. The wagon is so much lighter to pull after that milk is unloaded. Sometimes he stops at the bank, or the general store, or the utility office to pay his bills. But, after those brief stops, before we head back down the dusty road to home, I carry Uncle Eph to the cafe, where he takes time for some coffee and visiting.
One day I made a big mistake. While waiting for him at the cafe, I must have dozed off on my feet. I woke with a start. The afternoon sun had slid halfway to the horizon. I knew it was almost milking time, and I had to get the master home. I took off, as usual, heading to the farm. Without that milk to weigh me down, my load was so light I made those two miles in record time. So intent I was on getting home, I failed to notice something missing. No sound of my master’s singing or even praying reached my ears, but I had other things on my mind. I had a job to do, and he was counting on me.
Turning off the road into the farmyard, I pulled the wagon around the circle surrounding the big oak tree, between the house and barn. Since my master never stuck me with blinders, I got a glimpse of my wagon as I made the circuit. I couldn’t believe my eyes. My wagon was empty! Really empty! Ruth, snipping beans on the porch, saw my big mistake, too.
It was the only thing I could do. I took off, straight back to town, back to the cafe. My master, Uncle Eph with the great heart, was waiting for me there, right where I had left him.
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Great-Uncle Ephraim, or Eph (pronounced “eef”) had a horse that actually did this.
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