In his daily diary, a young Nathaniel Hawthorne recalled how an underfed and mistreated horse had shared with him the sorrows of life under a hard master, and all but brought the boy to tears. As the heartless owner was deep inside the mill, Nathaniel seized his chance to steal some corn and pour it into the horse’s trough.

While Nathaniel listened anxiously for any sound of the owner’s return from the depths of the mill, the poor old nag ate the stolen meal as fast as his bits would allow. At last the corn was gone, all was still quiet, and the contented horse thanked Nathaniel gently for his kindness.

Nathaniel now learnt that years of thrashing had made the horse’s hide so thick that his master used a metal spike: he was too old and weak, it seemed, to rebel, and even regretted that a kind bystander had saved him from being killed. At this, Nathaniel indignantly broke the prod, jerking the sharp point into a pond.

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