One day late in autumn the master had to go on a long journey on business. I was harnessed to the small carriage, and John went with him. There had been a lot of rain, and the river at the low wooden bridge was rising fast.
We did not start for home until late in the afternoon, and by then there was a storm. As we went along the edge of a wood, the great branches were moving like little sticks.
Suddenly there was a crack and a splitting sound, and an oak came crashing down right across the road in front of us. I will not say I was not frightened, because I was. I stood still and shook, but of course I did not turn round or run away. John jumped out and was at my head in a moment.
We had to go back the long way, and when we came to the bridge, it was nearly dark. We could just see that the water was over the middle of it, but that sometimes happened in a flood, so the master did not stop. The moment my feet touched the bridge, I felt sure that something was wrong. I did not dare to go on, and I stopped dead.
“Go on, Beauty,” said the master, and he touched me with the whip. I did not move. He gave me a sharp cut. I jumped, but I did not dare to go forward.
“There’s something wrong, sir,” said John. He got down and tried to lead me on. Of course I could not tell him, but I knew very well that the bridge was not safe.
Just then the man at the toll-gate on the other side ran out of his house, waving a torch.
“Stop! Stop!” he shouted. “The bridge is broken in the middle! If you come on, you’ll be in the river.”
“Thank God!” said the master.
“Well done, Beauty!” said John, and he gently turned me round onto the road by the river. For a long time nobody spoke. Then I understood from their talk that if I had gone on, we would have fallen into the river, and in the dark, with the strong current, we would all have drowned. The master said that God had given men reason, but He had given animals a knowledge that was quicker, and it had often saved men’s lives.
At home the mistress ran out of the door. “Are you really safe, my dear? I have been so frightened!”
“We are safe, my dear. But if your Black Beauty had not been wiser than we were, we would all have been carried down the river.”
Oh, what a good supper John gave me that night: a warm bran mash and crushed beans with my oats! He gave me a thick bed of straw too, and I was glad of it, because I was tired.