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Black Beauty · Black Beauty

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  Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. Dedication to my dear and honored mother, whose
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  life no less than her pen, has been devoted to the welfare of others.
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  This little book is affectionately dedicated Chapter one. My early home, The
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  first place that I can well remember, was a large, pleasant meadow with
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  a pond of clear water in it. Some shady trees leaned over it,
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  and rushes and water lilies grew at the deep end over the hedge. On
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  one side we looked into a plowed field, and on the other we looked
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  over a gate at our master's house, which stood by the roadside. At
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  the top of the meadow was a grove of fir trees, and at the
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  bottom a running brook overhung by a steep bank. While I was young,
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  I lived upon my mother's milk, as I could not eat grass. In
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  the daytime, I ran by her side, and at night I lay down
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  close by her. When it was hot, we used to stand by the
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  pond in the shade of the trees, and when it was cold we had
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  a nice warm shed near the grove. As soon as I was old enough
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  to eat grass, my mother used to go out to work in the daytime
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  and come back in the evening. There were six young colts in the meadow
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  besides me. They were older than I was. Some were nearly as large
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  as grown up horses. I used to run with them and had great fun.
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  We used to gallop all together round and round the field as hard as
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  we could go. Sometimes we had rather rough play, for they would frequently
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  bite and kick as well as gallop. One day, when there was a
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  good deal of kicking, my mother whinnied to me to come to her,
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  and then she said, I wish you to pay attention to what I am
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  going to say to you. The colts who live here are very good colts,
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  but they are cart horse colts, and of course they have not learned
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  manners. You have been well bred and well born. Your father has a
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  great name in these parts, and your grandfather won the cup two years at
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  the new Market Races. Your grandmother had the sweetest temper of any horse I
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  ever knew, and I think you have never seen me kick or bite.
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  I hope you will grow up gentle and good and never learn bad ways,
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  do your work with a good will, lift your feet up well when you
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  trot, and never bite or kick even in play. I have never forgotten
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  my mother's advice. I knew she was a wise old horse, and our
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  master thought a great deal of her. Her name was Duchess, but he
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  often called her pet. Our master was a good kind man. He gave
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  us good food, good lodging, and kind words. He spoke as kindly
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  to us as he did to his little children. We were all fond of
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  him, and my mother loved him very much. When she saw him at
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  the gate, she would neigh with joy and trot up to him. He
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  would pat and stroke her and say, well, old pet, and how
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  is your little darkie. I was a dull black, so he called me
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  Darky. Then he would give me a piece of bread, which was very
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  good, and sometimes he brought a carrot for my mother. All the horses
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  would come to him, but I think we were his favorites. My mother
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  always took him to the town on a market day in a light gig.
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  There was a plowboy, Dick, who sometimes came into our field to pluck
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  blackberries from the hedge. When he had eaten all he wanted, he would
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  have what he called fun with the colts, throwing stones and sticks at them
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  to make them gallop. We did not much mind him, for we could
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  gallop off, but sometimes a stone would hit and hurt us. One day
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  he was at this game and did not know that the master was in the
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  next field, but he was there watching what was going on. Over the
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  hedge. He jumped in a snap, and catching Dick by the arm,
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  he gave him such a box on the ear as made him roar with the
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  pain and surprise. As soon as we saw the master, we trotted up
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  nearer to see what went on. Bad boy, he said, bad boy,
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  to chase the colts. This is not the first time, nor the
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  second, but it shall be the last. There take your money and go
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  home. I shall not want you on my farm again. So we never
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  saw Dick any more. Old Daniel, the man who looked after the horses,
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  was just as gentle as our master, so we were well off.
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  End of Chapter one, Chapter two the Hunt. Before I was two years
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  old, a circumstance happened which I have never forgotten. It was early in
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  the spring, there had been a little frost in the night, and a
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  light mist still hung over the woods and meadows. I and the other colts
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  were feeding at the lower part of the field when we heard quite in the
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  distance what sounded like the cry of dogs. The oldest of the colts raised
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  his head, pricked his ears, and said, there are hounds, and
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  immediately cantered off, followed by the rest of us, to the upper part
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  of the field, where we could look over the hedge and see several fields
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  beyond. My mother and an old riding horse of our masters were also standing
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  near and seemed to know all about it. They have found a hare,
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  said my mother, and if they come this way we shall see the hunt.
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  And soon the dogs were all tearing down the field of young wheat next
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  to ours. I had never heard such a noise as they made. They
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  did not bark, nor howl, nor whine, but kept on a o
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  yo oh oh, yo yo oh oh at the top of their voices.
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  After them came a number of men on horseback, some of them in green
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  coats, all galloping as fast as they could. The old horse snorted and
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  looked eagerly after them, and we young cols wanted to be galloping with them,
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  but they were soon away into the fields lower down. Here it seemed
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  as if they had come to a stand. The dogs left off barking and
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  ran about every way, with their noses to the ground. They have lost
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  the scent, said the old horse. Perhaps the hare will get off what
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  hair? I said, Oh, I don't know what hare. Likely enough,
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  it may be one of our own hairs out of the woods. Any
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  hare they can find will do for the dogs and men to run after.
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  And before long the dogs began there yo yo oh oh, again and back
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  they came, altogether at full speed, making straight for our meadow, at
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  the part where the high bank and hedge overhang the brook. Now we shall
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  see the hare, said my mother. And just then a hare, wild
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  with fright, rushed by and made for the woods. On came the dogs.
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  They burst over the bank, lipped the stream, and came dashing across
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  the field, followed by the huntsmen. Six or eight men leapt their horses
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  clean over, close upon the dogs. The hare tried to get through the
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  fence. It was too thick, and she turned sharp round to make for
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  the road, but it was too late. The dogs were upon her with
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  their wild cries. We heard one shriek, and that was the end of
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  her. One of the huntsmen rode up and whipped off the dogs, who
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  would soon have torn her to pieces. He held her up by the leg,
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  torn and bleeding, and all the gentlemen seemed well pleased. As for
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  me, I was astonished that I did not at first see what was going
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  on by the brook. But when I did look, there was a sad
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  sight. Two fine horses were down. One was struggling in the stream,
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  and the other was groaning on the grass. One of the riders was getting
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  out of the water covered with mud. The other lay quite still. His
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  neck is broke, said my mother, And serve him right too, said
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  one of the colts. I thought the same, but my mother did not
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  join with us. Well, no, she said, you must not say
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  that. But though I am an old horse and have seen and heard a
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  great deal, I never yet could make out why men are so fond of
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  this sport. They often hurt themselves, often spoil good horses, and tear
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  up the fields, and all for a hare, or a fox or a
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  stag that they could get more easily some other way. But we are only
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  horses and don't know. While my mother was saying this, we stood and
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  looked on. Many of the riders had gone to the young man, but
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  my master, who had been watching what was going on was the first to
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  raise him. His head fell back and his arms hung down, and every
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  one looked very serious. There was no noise now, Even the dogs were
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  quiet and seemed to know that something was wrong. They carried him to our
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  master's house. I heard afterwards that it was young George Gordon, the squire's
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  only son, a fine, tall young man and the pride of his family.
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  There was now riding off in all directions, to the doctor's, to
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  the farrier's, and no doubt to Squire Gordon's to let him know about his
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  son. When mister Bond, the farrier, came to look at the black
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  horse that lay groaning on the grass, he felt him all over and shook
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  his head. One of his legs was broken. Then some one ran to
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  our master's house and came back with a gun. Presently there was a loud
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  bang and a dreadful shriek, and then all was still. The black horse
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  moved no more. My mother seemed much troubled. She said she had known
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  that horse for years, and that his name was rob Roy. He was
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  a good horse, and there was no vice in him. She never would
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  go to that part of the field afterward. Not many days after we heard
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  the church bell tolling for a long time, and looking over the gate we
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  saw a long, strange black coach that was covered with black cloth and was
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  drawn by black horses. After that came another, and another and another,
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  and all were black. While the bell kept tolling tolling, they were carrying
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  young Gordon to the churchyard to bury him. He would never ride again.
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  What they did with rob Roy I never knew, But twas all for one
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  little hair. End of Chapter two The Hunt. Chapter three, My breaking
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  In. I was now beginning to grow handsome. My coat had grown fine
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  and soft and was bright black. I had one white foot and a pretty
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  white star on my forehead. I was thought very handsome. My master would
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  not sell me till I was four years old. He said, lads ought
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  not to work like men, and colts ought not to work like horses till
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  they were quite grown up. When I was four years old, Squire Gordon
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  came to look at me. He examined my eyes, my mouth, and
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  my legs. He felt them all down, and then I had to walk
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  and trot and gallop before him. He seemed to like me, and said,
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  when he has been well broken in, he will do very well.
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  My master's that he would break me in himself, as he should not like
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  me to be frightened or hurt. And he lost no time about it,
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  for the next day he began. Every One may not know what breaking in
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  is, therefore I will describe it. It means to teach a horse to
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  wear a saddle and bridle, and to carry on his back a man,
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  woman or child, to go just the way they wish, and to go
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  quietly. Besides this, he has to learn to wear a collar, a
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  crupper, and a breeching, and to stand still while they are put on.
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  Then to have a cart or a chaise fixed behind, so that he
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  cannot walk or trot without dragging it after him. And he must go fast
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  or slow, just as his driver wishes. He must never start at what
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  he sees, nor speak to other horses, nor bite, nor kick,
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  nor have any will of his own, but always do his master's will,
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  even though he may be very tired or hungry. But the worst of all
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  is when his harness is once on, he may neither jump for joy nor
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  lie down for weariness. So you see this breaking in is a great thing.
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  I had, of course, long been used to a halter and a
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  head stall, and to be let about in the fields and lanes quietly.
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  But now as to have a bit and bridle. My master gave me some
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  oats as usual, and after a good deal of coaxing, he got the
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  bit into my mouth and the bridle fixed. But it was a nasty thing.
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  Those who have never had a bit in their mouths cannot think how bad
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  it feels, a great piece of cold, hard steel, as thick as
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  a man's finger, to be pushed into one's mouth, between one's teeth and
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  over one's tongue, with the ends coming out at the corner of your mouth,
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  and held fast there by straps over your head, under your throat,
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  round your nose, and under your chin, so that no way in the
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  world can you get rid of the nasty, hard thing. It is very
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  bad, yes, very bad, at least I thought so, But I
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  knew my mother always wore one when she went out, and all horses did
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  when they were grown up. And so what with the nice oats, and
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  what with my master's pats, kind words and gentle ways, I got to
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  wear my bit and bridle. Next came the saddle, but that was not
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  half so bad. My Master put it on my back very gently, while
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  old Daniel held my head. He then made the girths fast under my body,
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  patting and talking to me all the time. Then I had a few
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  oats, then a little leading about, and he did this every day till
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  I began to look for the oats in the saddle at length. One morning,
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  my master got on my back and rode me round the meadow on the
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  soft grass. It certainly did feel queer, but I must say I felt
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  rather proud to carry my master, And as he continued to ride me a
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  little every day, I soon became accustomed to it. The next unpleasant business
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  was putting on the iron shoes. That too, was very hard. At
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  first. My Master went with me to the smith's forge to see that I
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  was not hurt or got any fright. The blacksmith took my feet in his
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  hand one after the other and cut away some of the hoof. It did
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  not pain me, so I stood still on three legs till he had done
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  them all. Then he took a piece of iron the shape of my foot
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  and clapped it on and drove some nails through the shoe quite into my hoof,
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  so that the shoe was firmly on my feet, felt very stiff and
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  heavy. But in time I got used to it. And now having got
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  so far, my master went on to break me to harness. There were
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  more new things to wear. First, a stiff, heavy collar just on
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  my neck, and a bridle with great side pieces against my eyes, called
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  blinkers and blinkers indeed they were for I could not see on either side,
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  but only straight in front of me. Next there was a small saddle with
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  a nasty stiff strap that went right under my tail. That was the crupper.
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  I hated the crupper to have my long tail doubled up and poked through.
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  That strap was almost as bad as the bit. I never felt more
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  like kicking, but of course I could not kick such a good master,
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  and so in time I got used to everything and could do my work as
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  well as my mother. I must not forget to mention one part of my
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  training, which I have always considered a very great advantage. My master sent
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  me for a fortnight to a neighboring farmer's who had a meadow which was skirted
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  on one side by the railway. Here was some sheep and cows, and
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  I was turned in among them. I shall never forget the first train that
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  ran by. I was feeding quietly near the pails which separated the meadow from
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  the railway, when I heard a strange sound at a distance, and before
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  I know whence, it came, with a rush and the clatter and a
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  puffing out of smoke, a long, black train of something flew by and
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  was gone. Almost before I could draw my breath. I turned and galloped
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  to the farther side of the meadow as fast as I could go, and
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  there I stood, snorting with astonishment and fear. In the course of the
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  day, many other trains went by, some more slowly. These drew up
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  at the station close by, and sometimes made an awful shriek and groan before
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  they stopped. I thought it very dreadful, but the cows went on eating
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  very quietly, and hardly raised their heads as the black, frightful thing came,
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  puffing and grinding past. For the first few days I could not feed
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  in peace. But as I found that this terrible creature never came into the
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  field or did me any harm, I began to disregard it, and very
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  soon I cared as little about the passing of a train as the cows and
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  sheep did. Since then, I have seen many horses much alarmed and restive
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  at the sight or sound of a steam engine. But thanks to my good
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  master's care, I am as fearless at railway stations as in my own stable.
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  Now. If any one wants to break in a young horse, well
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  that is the way. My master often drove me in double harness with my
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  mother, because she was steady and could teach me how to go better than
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  a strange horse. She told me the better I behaved, the better I
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  should be treated, and that it was wisest always to do my best to
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  please my master. But said she, there are a great many kinds of
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  men. There are good, thoughtful men like our master, that any horse
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  may be proud to serve. And there are bad cruel men who never ought
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  to have a horse or dog to call their own. Besides, there are
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  a great many foolish men, vain, ignorant, and careless, who never
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  trouble themselves to think. These spoil more horses than all just for want of
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  sense. They don't mean it, but they do it for all that.
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  I hope you will fall into good hands, But a horse never knows who
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  may buy him, or who may drive him. It is all a chance
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  for us. But I still say, do your best wherever it is,
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  and keep up your good name. End of Chapter three, Chapter four,
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  Bertwick Park. At this time I used to stand in the stable, and
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  my coat was brushed every day till it shone like a rook's wing. It
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  was early in May when there came a man from Squire Gordon's who took me
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  away to the hall. My master said good bye, Darky, be a
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  good horse, and always do your best. I could not say good bye,
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  so I put my nose into his hand. He patted me kindly,
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  and I left my first home. As I lived some years with Squire Gordon,
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  I may as well tell something about the place. Squire Gordon Park skirted
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  the village of Bertwick. It was entered by a large iron gate, at
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  which stood the first lodge, and then you trotted along on a smooth road
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  between clumps of large old trees. Then another lodge and another gate, which
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  brought you to the house and the gardens. Beyond this lay the home,
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  paddock, the old orchard, and the stables. There was accommodation for many
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  horses and carriages, but I need only describe the stable into which I was
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  taken. This was very roomy, with four good stalls. A large swinging
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  window opened into the yard, which made it pleasant and airy. The first
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  stall was a large square one shut in behind with a wooden gate. The
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  others were common stalls, good stalls, but not nearly so large. It
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  had a low rack for hay and a low manger for corn. It was
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  called a loose box because the horse that was put into it was not tied
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  up, but left loose to do as he liked. It is a great
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  thing to have a loose box. Into this fine box the groom put me.
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  It was clean, sweet and airy. I never was in a better
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  box than that, And the sides were not so high, but that I
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  could see all that went on through the iron rails that were at the top.
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  He gave me some very nice oats. He patted me, spoke kindly,
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  and then went away. When I had eaten my corn, I looked
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  round. In the stall next to mine stood a little, fat gray pony
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  with a thick mane and tail, a very pretty head, and a pert
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  little nose. I put my head up to the iron rails at the top
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  of my box and said how do you do? What is your name?
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  He turned round as far as his halter would allow, held up his head
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  and said, my name is Merrylegs. I am very handsome. I car
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  the young lady's on my back, and sometimes I take our mistress out in
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  a low chair. They think a great deal of me, and so does
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  James. Are you going to live next door to me in the box?
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  I said yes. Well then he said, I hope you are good tempered.
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  I do not like any one next door who bites. Just then a
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  horse's head looked over from the stall beyond. The ears were laid back,
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  and the eye looked rather ill tempered. This was a tall chestnut mare with
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  a long handsome neck. She looked across to me and said, so it
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  is you who have turned me out of my box. It is a very
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  strange thing for a colt like you to come and turn a lady out of
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  her own home. I beg your pardon, I said, I have turned
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  no one out. The men who brought me put me here, and I
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  had nothing to do with it. And as to my being a colt,
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  I am turned four years old and am a grown up horse. I never
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  had words yet with a horse or mare, and it is my wish to
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  leave at peace. Well, she said, we shall see. Of course,
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  I do not want to have words with a young thing like you.
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  I said no more. In the afternoon, when she went out, Mary
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  Leggs told me all about it. The thing is, said Merrylegs. Ginger
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  has a bad habit of biting and snapping. That is why they call her
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  Ginger. And when she was in the loose box she used to snap very
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  much. One day she bit James in the arm and made it bleed.
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  And so Miss Flora and Miss Jessie, who are very fond of me,
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  were afraid to come into the stable. They used to bring me nice things
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  to eat, an apple or a carriot, or pieces of bread. But
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  after Ginger stood a nap box, they dared not come, and I missed
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  them very much. I hope they will now come again if you do not
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  bite or snap. I told him I never bid anything but grass, hay
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  and corn, and could not think what pleasure Ginger found in it. Well,
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  I don't think she does find pleasure, said Mary Leggs. It is
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  just a bad habit. She says. No one was ever kind to her
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  and why should she not bite? Of course it is a very bad habit.
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  But I am sure if all she says be true, she must have
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  been very ill used before she came here. John does all he can to
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  please her, and James does all he can. And our master never uses
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  a whip if a horse acts right, So I think she might be good
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  tempered here, you see, he said, with a wise look. I
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  am twelve years old. I know a great deal, and I can tell
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  you there is not a better place for a horse all round the country than
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  this. John is the best groom that ever was. He has been here
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  fourteen years, and you never saw such a kind boy as James's. So
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  that it is all Ginger's old and thought that she did not stay in that
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  box. End of chapter four, Chapter five, A fair start. The
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  name of the coachman was John Manley. He had a wife and one little
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  child, and they lived and the coachman's cottage very near the stables. The
• 25:22
  next morning he took me into the yard and gave me a good grooming.
• 25:25
  And just as I was going into my box with my coat soft and bright,
• 25:29
  the squire came in to look at me and seemed pleased John, he
• 25:33
  said, I meant to have tried the new horse this morning, but I
• 25:37
  have other business. You may as well take him around after breakfast. Go
• 25:41
  by the common and the high wood, and back by the watermill and the
• 25:45
  river. That will show his paces, I will, sir, said John.
• 25:51
  After breakfast he came and fitted me with a bridle. He was very
• 25:55
  particular in letting out and taking in the straps to fit my head comfortably.
• 26:00
  Then he brought a saddle, but it was not broad enough for my back.
• 26:04
  He saw it in a minute and went for another, which fitted nicely.
• 26:08
  He rode me first slowly, then a trot, then a canter,
• 26:12
  and when we are on the common, he gave me a light touch with
• 26:15
  his whip and we had a splendid gallop. Ho Ho, my boy,
• 26:21
  he said, as he pulled me up, you would like to follow the
• 26:23
  hounds. I think. As we came back through the park, we met
• 26:27
  the Squire and Missus Gordon walking. They stopped and John jumped off. Well,
• 26:33
  John, how goes it? First rate? Sir answered John. He
• 26:37
  is as fleet as a deer, and has a fine spirit too, But
• 26:41
  the lightest touch of the rain will guide him down at the end. Of
• 26:44
  the common. We met one of those traveling carts hung all over with baskets,
• 26:48
  rugs and such like. You know, sir, many horses will not
• 26:52
  pass those carts quietly. He just took a good look at it and then
• 26:56
  went on as quite unpleasant as he could be. They were shooting rabbits through
• 27:00
  the high wood, and a gun went off close by. He pulled up
• 27:03
  a little and looked, but he did not stir a step to right or
• 27:07
  left. I just held the rain steady and did not hurry him. And
• 27:11
  it's my opinion he has not been frightened or ill used while he was young.
• 27:15
  That's well, said the squire. I will try and myself tomorrow.
• 27:21
  The next day I was brought up for the master. I remembered my mother's
• 27:25
  counsel and my good old master's, and I tried to do exactly what he
• 27:29
  wanted me to do. I found he was a very good rider, and
• 27:33
  thoughtful for his horse too. When he came home, the lady was at
• 27:37
  the hall door as he rode up. Well, my dear, she said,
• 27:41
  how do you like him? He is exactly what John said. He
• 27:45
  replied, a pleasanter creature. I never wished to mount. What shall we
• 27:48
  call him? Would you like ebony? She said, he is as black
• 27:53
  as ebony. No, not ebony. Well, will you call him blackbird,
• 27:59
  like your uncle's old horse. No, he is far handsomer than old
• 28:03
  Blackbird ever was? Ah? Yes, she said, he is really quite
• 28:07
  a beauty, and he has such a sweet, good tempered face and such
• 28:12
  a fine intelligent eye. What do you say to calling him black beauty?
• 28:18
  Black beauty? Why? Yes, I think that's a very good name.
• 28:22
  If you like, it shall be his name. And so it was.
• 28:26
  When John went into the stable, he told James that the Master and mistress
• 28:30
  had chosen a good, sensible English name for me that meant something not like
• 28:36
  Marengo or Pegasus or Abdolah. They both laughed, and James said, if
• 28:41
  it was not for bringing back the past, I should have named him rob
• 28:45
  Roy, for I never saw two horses more alike. That's no wonder,
• 28:49
  said John. Didn't you know that Farmer Gray's old duchess was the mother of
• 28:53
  them both? I had never heard that before, And so poor rob Roy,
• 28:57
  who was killed at that hunt, was my brother. I did not
• 29:00
  wonder that my mother was so troubled. It seems that horses have no relations.
• 29:06
  At least, they never know each other after they are sold. John
• 29:11
  seemed very proud of me. He used to make my mane and tail almost
• 29:15
  as smooth as a lady's hair, and he would talk to me a great
• 29:18
  deal. Of course, I did not understand all that he said, but
• 29:22
  I learned more and more to know what he meant and what he wanted me
• 29:26
  to do. I grew very fond of him. He was so gentle and
• 29:30
  kind. He seemed to know just how a horse feels, and when he
• 29:33
  cleaned me he knew the tender places and the ticklish places. When he brushed
• 29:38
  my head, he went as carefully over my eyes as if they were his
• 29:41
  own, and never stirred up any ill temper. James Howard, the stable
• 29:48
  boy, was just as gentle and pleasant in his way, so I thought
• 29:52
  myself well off. There was another man who helped in the yard, but
• 29:56
  he had a very little to do with Ginger in me. Few days after
• 30:00
  this, I had to go out with Ginger in the carriage. I wondered
• 30:03
  how we should get on together, But except laying her ears back when I
• 30:07
  was let up to her, she behaved very well. She did her work
• 30:11
  honestly and did her full share, and I never wished to have a better
• 30:15
  partner in double harness. When we came to a hill, instead of slackening
• 30:19
  her pace, she would throw away right into the collar and pull away straight
• 30:23
  up. We had both the same sort of courage at our work, and
• 30:27
  John had oftener to hold us in than to urge us forward. He never
• 30:33
  had to use the whip with either of us. Then our paces were much
• 30:37
  the same, and I found it very easy to keep up with her when
• 30:40
  trotty, which made it pleasant. And Master always liked it when we kept
• 30:44
  step well, and so did John. After we'd been out two or three
• 30:48
  times together, we grew quite friendly and sociable, which made me feel very
• 30:52
  much at home. As for Mary Legs, he and I soon became great
• 30:57
  friends. He was such a cheerful, plucky, good tempered little fellow that
• 31:03
  he was a favorite with everyone, and especially with Miss Jesse and Flora.
• 31:07
  He used to ride him about in the orchard and have fine games with him
• 31:11
  and their little dog, Frisky. Our Master had two other horses that stood
• 31:15
  in another stable. One was Justice, a rowan cob used for riding or
• 31:22
  for the luggage cart. The other was an old brown hunter named Sir Oliver.
• 31:26
  He was past work now, but was a great favorite with the master,
• 31:30
  who gave him the run of the park. He sometimes that a little
• 31:33
  light carting on the estate had carried one of the young ladies when they rode
• 31:37
  out with their father, for he was very gentle and could be trusted with
• 31:41
  a child as well as merry legs. The cob was a strong, well
• 31:45
  made, good tempered horse, and we sometimes had a little chat in the
• 31:48
  paddock, But of course I could not be so intimate with him as with
• 31:53
  Ginger, who stood in the same stable. End of chapter five, Chapter
• 32:00
  six, Liberty. I was quite happy in my new place, and if
• 32:07
  there was one thing that I missed, it must not be thought I was
• 32:10
  discontented. All who had to do with me were good, and I had
• 32:15
  a light, airy stable and the best of food. What more could I
• 32:21
  want? Why? Liberty? For three years and a half of my life
• 32:25
  I had had all the liberty I could wish for. But now, week
• 32:30
  after week, month after month, and no doubt, year after year,
• 32:37
  I must stand up in a stable night and day, except when I am
• 32:40
  wanted, and then I must be just as steady and quiet as any old
• 32:45
  horse who has worked twenty years, straps here and straps there, a bit
• 32:52
  in my mouth and blinkers over my eyes. Now I am not complaining,
• 32:58
  for I know it must be so. Oh. I only mean to say
• 33:01
  that for a young horse, full of strength and spirits, who has been
• 33:07
  used to some large field or plane where he can fling up his head and
• 33:12
  toss up his tail and gallop away at full speed, then round and back
• 33:15
  again with a snort to his companions, I say, it is hard never
• 33:21
  to have a bit more liberty to do as you like. Sometimes, when
• 33:25
  I have had less exercise than usual, I have felt so full of life
• 33:30
  and spring that when John has taken me out to exercise I really could not
• 33:36
  keep quiet do what I would. It seemed as if I must jump,
• 33:39
  or dance or prance, and many a good shake I know I must have
• 33:45
  given him, especially at the first. But he was always good and patient.
• 33:51
  Steady, steady, my boy. He would say, wait a bit,
• 33:55
  and we will have a good swing and soon get the tickle out of
• 33:59
  your feet. Then as soon as we were out of the village, he
• 34:02
  would give me a few miles at a spanking trot and then bring me back
• 34:07
  as fresh as before, only clear of the fidgets, as he called them.
• 34:13
  Spirited horses when not enough exercised. Are often called skittish when it is
• 34:19
  only play, and some grooms will punish them. But our John did not.
• 34:25
  He knew it was only high spirits. Still, he had his own
• 34:30
  ways of making me understand by the tone of his voice or the touch of
• 34:35
  the rain. If he was very serious and quite determined. I always knew
• 34:40
  it by his voice, and that had more power with me than anything else,
• 34:45
  for I was very fond of him. I ought to say that sometimes
• 34:51
  we had our liberty for a few hours. This used to be on fine
• 34:55
  Sundays in the summer time. The carriage never went out on Sundays because the
• 35:00
  church was not far off. It was a great treat to us to be
• 35:06
  turned out into the home paddock or the old orchard. The grass was so
• 35:09
  cool and soft to our feet, the air so sweet, and the freedom
• 35:15
  to do as we liked was so pleasant to gallop, to lie down and
• 35:19
  roll over on our backs, or to nibble the sweet grass. Then it
• 35:23
  was a very good time for talking as we stood together under the shade of
• 35:28
  the large chestnut tree, end of Chapter six, Chapter seven Ginger. One
• 35:40
  day, when Ginger and I were standing alone in the shade, we had
• 35:45
  a great deal of talk. She wanted to know all about my bringing up
• 35:50
  and breaking in, and I told her, well, said she. If
• 35:55
  I had had your bringing up, I might have had as good a temper
• 36:00
  as you. But now I don't believe I ever shall. Why not,
• 36:06
  I said, because it has been all so different with me, She replied,
• 36:12
  I never had any one horse or man that was kind to me,
• 36:15
  or that I cared to please. For in the first place, I was
• 36:20
  taken from my mother as soon as I was weaned and put with a lot
• 36:23
  of other young colts. None of them cared for me, and I cared
• 36:28
  for none of them. There was no kind master like yours to look after
• 36:32
  me and talk to me and bring me nice things to eat. The man
• 36:38
  that had the care of us never gave me a kind word in my life.
• 36:43
  I do not mean that he ill used me, but he did not
• 36:46
  care for us one bit. Further than to see that we had plenty to
• 36:51
  eat and shelter in the winter. A footpath ran through our field, and
• 36:55
  very often the great boys passing through would fling stones to make us gallop.
• 37:01
  I was never hit, but one fine young colt was badly cut in the
• 37:07
  face, and I should think it would be a scar for life. We
• 37:12
  did not care for them, but of course it made us more wild,
• 37:15
  and we settled it in our minds that boys were our enemies. We had
• 37:21
  very good fun in the free meadows, galloping up and down under the shade
• 37:24
  of the trees. But when it came to breaking in, that was a
• 37:29
  bad time for me. Several men came to catch me, and when at
• 37:34
  last they closed me in at one corner of the field, one caught me
• 37:37
  by the forelock. Another caught me by the nose and held it so tight
• 37:42
  that I could hardly draw my breath. Then another took my under jaw in
• 37:45
  his hard hand and wrenched my mouth open, And so by force they got
• 37:52
  on the halter and the bar into my mouth. Then one dragged me along
• 37:55
  by the halter, another flogging behind. And this was the first experience I
• 38:01
  had of men's kindness. It was all force. They did not give me
• 38:07
  a chance to know what they wanted. I was high bred and had a
• 38:12
  great deal of spirit, and was very wild, no doubt and gave them,
• 38:15
  I dare say, plenty of trouble. But then it was dreadful to
• 38:21
  be shut up in a stall day after day instead of having my liberty.
• 38:25
  And I fretted and pined and wanted to get loose. You know yourself.
• 38:30
  It's bad enough when you have a kind master in plenty of coaxing, But
• 38:35
  there was nothing of that sort for me. There was one, the old
• 38:40
  master, mister Rider, who I think could soon have brought me round and
• 38:45
  could have done anything with me, But he had given up all the hard
• 38:50
  part of the trade to his son and to another experienced man, and he
• 38:54
  only came at times to oversee. His son was a strong, tall,
• 39:00
  bold man. They called him Samson, and he used to boast that he
• 39:06
  had never found a horse that could throw him. There was no gentleness in
• 39:09
  him, as there was in his father, but only hardness, a hard
• 39:15
  voice, a hard eye, a hard hand. And I felt from the
• 39:19
  first that what he wanted was to wear all the spirit out of me and
• 39:23
  just make me into a quiet, humble, obedient piece of horse flesh.
• 39:28
  Horse flesh, yes, that is all that he thought about. And Ginger
• 39:32
  stamped her foot as if the very thought of him made her angry. Then
• 39:37
  she went on if I did not do exactly what he wanted, he would
• 39:42
  get put out and make me run round with that long rain in the training
• 39:45
  field till he had tired me out. I think he drank a good deal,
• 39:51
  and I am quite sure that the oftener he drank the worse it was
• 39:54
  for me. One day, he had worked me hard in every way he
• 39:59
  could, and when I lay down, I was tired and miserable and angry.
• 40:04
  It all seemed so hard. The next morning he came for me early
• 40:08
  and ran me round again for a long time. I had scarcely had an
• 40:14
  hour's rest when he came again for me with a saddle and bridle and a
• 40:17
  new kind of bit. I could never quite tell how it came about.
• 40:22
  He had only just mounted me on the training ground when something I did put
• 40:27
  him out of temper, and he chucked me hard with the rein. The
• 40:30
  new bit was very painful, and I reared up suddenly, which angered him
• 40:36
  still more, and he began to flog me. I felt my whole spirit
• 40:40
  set against him, and I began to kick and plunge and rear as I
• 40:45
  had never done before. And we had a regular fight for a long time.
• 40:51
  He stuck to the saddle and punished me cruelly with his whip and spurs.
• 40:55
  But my blood was thoroughly up and I cared for nothing he could do,
• 41:00
  if only I could get him off. At last, after a terrible
• 41:05
  struggle, I threw him off backward. I heard him fall heavily on the
• 41:09
  turf, and without looking behind me, I galloped off to the other end
• 41:14
  of the field, where I turned round and saw my persecutor slowly rising from
• 41:19
  the ground and going into the stable. I stood under an oak tree and
• 41:24
  watched, but no one came to catch me. The time went on and
• 41:30
  the sun was very hot. The flies swarmed round me and settled on my
• 41:35
  bleeding flanks where the spurs had dug in. I felt hungry, for I
• 41:39
  had not eaten since the early morning, but there was not enough grass in
• 41:44
  that meadow for a goose to live on. I wanted to lie down and
• 41:47
  rest, but with the saddle strapped tightly on, there was no comfort,
• 41:52
  and there was not a drop of water to drink. The afternoon wore on
• 41:58
  and the sun got low. I saw the other colts led in, and
• 42:02
  I knew they were having a good feed. At last, just as the
• 42:07
  sun went down, I saw the old Master come out with a sieve in
• 42:10
  his hand. He was a very fine old gentleman, with quite white hair.
• 42:16
  But his voice was what I should know him by among a thousand.
• 42:21
  It was not high, nor yet low, but full and clear and kind.
• 42:25
  And when he gave orders it was so steady, and decided that everyone
• 42:30
  knew, both horses and men, that he expected to be obeyed. He
• 42:36
  came quietly along now and then, shaking the oats about that he had in
• 42:39
  the sieve, and speaking cheerfully and gently to me. Come along, Lassie,
• 42:45
  Come along, Lassie, come along, Come along. I stood still
• 42:50
  and let him come up. He held the oats to me, and I
• 42:52
  began to eat without fear. His voice took all my fear away. He
• 42:58
  stood by, patting, stroking me while I was eating, and seeing the
• 43:01
  clots of blood on my side, he seemed very vexed. Poor Lassie.
• 43:07
  It was a bad business, a bad business. Then he quietly took the
• 43:12
  rein and led me to the stable. Just at the door stood Samson.
• 43:16
  I laid my ears back and snapped at him. Stand back, said the
• 43:21
  Master, and keep out of her way. You've done a bad day's work
• 43:24
  for this filly. He growled out, something about a vicious brute hark ye,
• 43:30
  said the father. A bad tempered man will never make a good tempered
• 43:35
  horse. You've not learned your trade yet, Samson. Then he led me
• 43:39
  into my box, took off the saddle and bridle with his own hands,
• 43:44
  and tied me up. Then he called for a pail of warm water and
• 43:47
  a sponge, took off his coat, and while the stableman held the pail,
• 43:52
  he sponged my sides a good while, so tenderly that I was sure
• 43:57
  he knew how sore and bruised they were. Woa, my pretty one,
• 44:00
  he said, stand still, stand still. His very voice did me good,
• 44:07
  and the bathing was very comfortable. The skin was so broken at the
• 44:12
  corners of my mouth that I could not eat. The hay and stalks hurt
• 44:15
  me. He looked closely at it, shook his head, and told the
• 44:20
  man to fetch a good bran mash and put some meal into it. How
• 44:24
  good that mash was, and so soft and healing to my mouth. He
• 44:30
  stood by all the time I was eating, stroking me and talking to the
• 44:34
  man. If a high mettled creature like this, said, he can't be
• 44:38
  broken by fair means she will never be good for anything. After that,
• 44:45
  he often came to see me, and when my mouth was healed, the
• 44:47
  other breaker job they called him, went on training me. He was steady
• 44:52
  and thoughtful, and I soon learned what he wanted. End of chapter seven.
• 45:00
  Chapter eight. Ginger's story continued. The next time that Ginger and I
• 45:07
  were together in the paddock, she told me about her first place after my
• 45:13
  breaking in. She said, I was bought by a dealer to match another
• 45:16
  chestnut horse. For some weeks. He drove us together, and then we
• 45:21
  were sold to a fashionable gentleman and were sent up to London. I had
• 45:25
  been driven with a check rein by the dealer, and I hated it worse
• 45:30
  than anything else. But in this place we were reined far tighter, the
• 45:34
  coachman and his master thinking we looked more stylish, so we were often driven
• 45:38
  about in the park and other fashionable places. You who never had a check
• 45:44
  rein on don't know what it is, but I can tell you it is
• 45:47
  dreadful. I like to toss my head about and hold it as high as
• 45:51
  any horse, but fancy now yourself if you tossed your head up high and
• 45:55
  were obliged to hold it there, and that for hours together, not able
• 46:00
  to move it at all, except with a jerk still higher, your neck
• 46:04
  aching till you did not know how to bear it. Besides that, to
• 46:08
  have two bits instead of one, and mine was a sharp one. It
• 46:13
  hurt my tongue and my jaw, and the blood from my tongue colored the
• 46:16
  froth that kept flying from my lips as I chafed and fretted at the bits
• 46:21
  and rain. It was worse when we had to stand by the hour waiting
• 46:25
  for our mistress at some grand party or entertainment, and if I fretted or
• 46:30
  stamped with impatience, the whip was laid on. It was enough to drive
• 46:34
  me mad. Did not your master take any thought for you? I said,
• 46:40
  no, said she. He only cared to have a stylish turn out,
• 46:45
  as they call it. I think he knew very little about horses.
• 46:49
  He left that to his coachman, who told him I had an irritable temper,
• 46:53
  that I had not been well broken to the check rein, but I
• 46:57
  should soon get used to it. But he was not the man to do
• 47:00
  it for when I was in the stable miserable and angry, Instead of being
• 47:05
  soothed and quieted by kindness, I got only a surly word or a blow.
• 47:10
  If he had been civil, I would have tried to bear it.
• 47:15
  I was willing to work, and ready to work hard too, but to
• 47:19
  be tormented for nothing but their fancies angered me. What right had they to
• 47:24
  make me suffer like that? Besides the soreness in my mouth and the pain
• 47:30
  in my neck, it always made my windpipe feel bad, and if I
• 47:34
  had stopped there long, I know it would have spoiled my breathing. But
• 47:38
  I grew more and more restless and irritable. I could not help it,
• 47:43
  and I began to snap and kick when anyone came to harness me. For
• 47:46
  this, the groom beat me, and one day, as they had just
• 47:51
  buckled up into the carriage and were straining my head up with that rain,
• 47:54
  I began to plunge and kick with all my might. I soon broke a
• 47:59
  lot of harness and kicked myself clear. So that was an end of that
• 48:04
  place. After this I was sent to Tattersalls to be sold. Of course,
• 48:08
  I could not be warranted free from vice, so nothing was said about
• 48:13
  that. My handsome appearance in good paces soon brought a gentleman to bid for
• 48:17
  me, and I was bought by another dealer. He tried me in all
• 48:22
  kinds of ways and with different bits, and he soon found out what I
• 48:25
  could not bear. At last he drove me quite without a check rein,
• 48:30
  and then sold me as a perfectly quiet horse to a gentleman in the country.
• 48:35
  He was a good master, and I was getting on very well,
• 48:38
  but his old groom left him and a new one came. This man was
• 48:43
  as hard tempered and hard handed as Samson. He always spoke in a rough,
• 48:47
  impatient voice, and if I did not move in the stall the moment
• 48:52
  he wanted me, and he would hit me above the hocks with his stable
• 48:54
  broom or the fork, whichever he might have in his hand. Every thing
• 49:00
  he did was rough, and I began to hate him. He wanted to
• 49:04
  make me afraid of him, but I was too high meddled for that,
• 49:07
  And one day, when he had aggravated me more than usual, I bid
• 49:12
  him, which of course put him in a great rage, and he began
• 49:15
  to hit me about the head with a riding whip. After that, he
• 49:19
  never dared to come into my stall again. Either my heels or my teeth
• 49:23
  were ready for him, and he knew it. I was quite quiet with
• 49:28
  my master, but of course he listened to what the man said, and
• 49:30
  so I was sold again. The same dealer heard of me and said he
• 49:36
  thought he knew one place where I should do well. Twas a pity.
• 49:38
  He said that such a fine horse should go to the bad for want of
• 49:43
  a real good chance. And the end of it was that I came here
• 49:46
  not long before you did. But I had then made up my mind that
• 49:52
  men were my natural enemies, and that I must defend myself. Of course,
• 49:57
  it is very different here, but who knows how long it will last.
• 50:01
  I wish I could think about things as you do, but I can't.
• 50:05
  After all I have gone through well, I said, I think it
• 50:09
  would be a real shame if you were to bite or kick John or James.
• 50:15
  I don't mean to, she said, while they are good to me.
• 50:17
  I did bite James once, pretty sharp, but John said, try
• 50:22
  her with kindness, and instead of punishing me as I expected, James came
• 50:27
  to me with his arm bound up and brought me a bran mash and stroked
• 50:30
  me and I have never snapped at him since, and I won't either.
• 50:36
  I was sorry for Ginger, but of course I knew very little then,
• 50:39
  and I thought most likely she made the worst of it. However, I
• 50:44
  found that as the weeks went on, she grew much more gentle and cheerful,
• 50:47
  and had lost the watchful, defiant look that she used to turn on
• 50:51
  any strange person who came near her. And one day James said, I
• 50:55
  do believe that May is getting fond of me. She quite winnied after me
• 50:59
  the this morning, when I had been rubbing her forehead. Aye aye,
• 51:04
  Jim tis the Britwick balls, said John, She'll be as good as black
• 51:07
  beauty. By and by kindness is all the physics she wants. Poor thing
• 51:14
  Master noticed the change too, and one day, when he got out of
• 51:17
  the carriage and came to speak to us, as he often did, he
• 51:21
  stroked her beautiful neck. Well, my pretty one, Well how do things
• 51:24
  go with you? Now? You are a good bit happier than when you
• 51:28
  came to us. I think. She put her nose up to him in
• 51:30
  a friendly, trustful way while he rubbed it gently. We shall make a
• 51:36
  cure of her, John, he said, Yes, sir, she's wonderfully
• 51:39
  improved. She's not the same creature that she was. It's the Bridwick ball,
• 51:45
  Sir, said John, laughing. This was a little joke of John's.
• 51:50
  He used to say that a regular course of the Britwick horseballs would cure
• 51:53
  almost any vicious horse. These balls, he said, were made up of
• 51:59
  patience and gentle from ness and petting, one pound of each to be mixed
• 52:02
  up with half a pint of common sense and given to the horse every day.
• 52:08
  End of Chapter eight, Chapter nine, Merrylegs, Mister Bloomfield, the
• 52:17
  vicar had a large family of boys and girls. Sometimes they used to come
• 52:22
  and play with Miss Jesse and Flora. One of the girls was as old
• 52:28
  as Miss Jesse. Two of the boys were older, and there were several
• 52:30
  little ones. When they came, there was plenty of work for Merrylegs.
• 52:36
  For nothing pleased them so much as getting on him by turns and riding him
• 52:39
  all about the orchard and the home paddock. And this they would do by
• 52:44
  the hour together. One afternoon he had been out with them a long time,
• 52:50
  and when James brought him in and put on his halter, he said,
• 52:53
  there, you rogue mind, how you behave yourself or we shall get
• 52:57
  into trouble. What have you been doing, Merrylegs, I asked, Oh,
• 53:02
  he said, tossing his little head. I have only been giving those
• 53:07
  young people a lesson. They did not know when they had had enough,
• 53:10
  nor when I had had enough. So I just pitched them off backwards.
• 53:15
  That was the only thing they could understand what I said, you threw the
• 53:22
  children off? I thought you did know better than that. Did you throw
• 53:28
  Miss Jessie or Miss Flora? He looked very much offended and said, of
• 53:34
  course not. I would not do such a thing for the best oats that
• 53:37
  ever came into the stable. Why, I am as careful of our young
• 53:42
  ladies as the master could be. And as for the little ones, it
• 53:45
  is I who teach them to ride. When they seem frightened or a little
• 53:50
  unsteady on my back, I go as smooth and quiet as old pussy when
• 53:53
  she's after a bird. And when they're all right, I go on again
• 53:58
  faster, you see, just to use them to it. So don't trouble
• 54:02
  yourself preaching to me. I'm the best friend and the best riding master those
• 54:07
  children have. It's not them, it's the boys. Boys said, he
• 54:14
  shaking his mane, are quite different. They must be broken in as we
• 54:17
  were broken in when we were colts, and just be taught what's what.
• 54:22
  The other children had ridden me about for nearly two hours, and then the
• 54:25
  boys thought it was their turn, and so it was, and I was
• 54:29
  quite agreeable. They rode me by turns, and I galloped them about up
• 54:35
  and down the fields and all about the orchard for a good hour. They
• 54:38
  had each cut a great hazel stick for a riding whip, and laid it
• 54:43
  on a little too hard, but I took it in good part till at
• 54:46
  last I thought we had had enough, so I stopped two or three times
• 54:50
  by way of a hint. Boys, you see, think a horse or
• 54:54
  ponies, like a steam engine, are a thrashing machine and can go on
• 54:59
  and long and as fast as they please. They never think that a pony
• 55:04
  can get tired or have any feelings. So as the one who was whipping
• 55:08
  me could not understand, I just rose up on my hind legs and let
• 55:12
  him slip off behind. That was all. He mounted me again, and
• 55:16
  I did the same. Then the other boy got up, and as soon
• 55:21
  as he began to use his stick. I laid him on the grass,
• 55:23
  and so on till they were able to understand that was all. They're not
• 55:29
  bad boys. They don't wish to be cruel. I like them very well.
• 55:34
  But you see I had to give them a lesson. When they brought
• 55:37
  me to James and told him, I think he was very angry to see
• 55:40
  such big sticks. He said they were only fit for drovers or gypsies,
• 55:45
  and not for young gentlemen. If I had been you, said Ginger,
• 55:50
  I would have given those boys a good kick, and that would have given
• 55:52
  them a lesson. No doubt you would, said, Merrylegs. But then
• 55:58
  I'm not quite such a fo begging your pardon as to anger our master or
• 56:01
  make James ashamed of me. Besides, those children are under my charge when
• 56:07
  they're driding. I tell you they are entrusted to me. Why only the
• 56:14
  other day I heard our masters say to missus Blomfield, My dear madam,
• 56:19
  you need not be anxious about the children. My old Merrylegs will take as
• 56:22
  much care of them as you or I could. I assure you I would
• 56:25
  not sell that pony for any money. He is so perfectly good tempered and
• 56:30
  trustworthy. And do you think I am such an ungrateful brute as to forget
• 56:36
  all the kind treatment I have had here for five years and all the trust
• 56:39
  they place in me, and turned vicious because a couple of ignorant boys used
• 56:44
  me badly. No, No, you never had a good place where they
• 56:47
  were so kind to you, and so you don't know. And I'm sorry
• 56:52
  for you, but I can tell you good places make good horses. I
• 56:57
  wouldn't vex our people for anything. I love them, I do, said
• 57:01
  Merrylegs, and he gave a low ho ho ho through his nose, as
• 57:07
  he used to do in the morning when he heard James's footstep at the door.
• 57:10
  Besides, he went on, if I took the kicking, where should
• 57:15
  I be Why? Sold off in a jiffy and no character, And I
• 57:19
  might find myself slaved about under a butcher's boy, or worked to death at
• 57:22
  some seaside place where no one cared for me. Expect to find out how
• 57:27
  fast I would go, or be flogged along in some cart with three or
• 57:30
  four great men in it, going out for a Sunday spree, as I
• 57:34
  have often seen in the place I lived before I came here. No,
• 57:37
  he said, shaking his head. I hope I shall never come to that
• 57:43
  end of chapter nine, Chapter ten, a talk in the orchard. Ginger
• 57:53
  and I were not of the regular tall carriage horse breed. We had more
• 57:58
  of the racing blood in us. We stood about fifteen and a half hands
• 58:02
  high. We were therefore just as good for riding as we for driving.
• 58:07
  And our master used to say that he disliked either horse or man that could
• 58:10
  but do one thing, And as he did not want to show off in
• 58:15
  London parks, he preferred a more active and useful kind of horse. As
• 58:20
  for us, our greatest pleasure was when we were saddled for a riding party,
• 58:24
  the Master on Ginger, the Mistress on me, and the young ladies
• 58:30
  on Sir Oliver and Merrylegs. It was so cheerful to be trotting and cantering
• 58:35
  altogether that it always put us in high spirits. I had the best to
• 58:38
  fit, for I always carried the Mistress. Her weight was little, her
• 58:44
  voice was sweet, and her hand was so light on the rain that I
• 58:47
  was guided almost without feeling it. Oh, if people knew what a comfort
• 58:52
  to horses a light hand is, and how it keeps a good mouth and
• 58:57
  a good temper. They surely would not chuck and drag and pull at the
• 59:00
  rein as they often do. Our mouths are so tender that, where they
• 59:06
  have not been spoiled or hardened with bad or ignorant treatment, they feel the
• 59:10
  slightest movement of the driver's hand, and we know in an instant what is
• 59:15
  required of us. My mouth has never been spoiled, and I believe that
• 59:20
  was why the mistress preferred me to Ginger, although her paces were certainly quite
• 59:24
  as good. She used often to envy me and said it was all the
• 59:29
  fault of breaking in and the gag bit in London, that her mouth was
• 59:32
  not so perfect as mine. And then old Sir Oliver would say, there,
• 59:37
  there, don't vex yourself. You have the greatest honor. A mare
• 59:43
  that can carry a tall man of our master's weight with all your spring and
• 59:46
  sprightly action does not need to hold her head down, because she does not
• 59:51
  carry the lady. We horses must take things as they come, and always
• 59:54
  be contented and willing, so long as we are kindly used. I I
• 1:00:00
  had often wondered how it was that Sir Oliver had such a very short tail.
• 1:00:05
  It really was only six or seven inches long, with a tussel of
• 1:00:08
  hair hanging from it. And on one of our holidays in the orchard,
• 1:00:13
  I ventured to ask him by what accident it was that he had lost his
• 1:00:15
  tail. Accident? He snorted with a fierce look. It was no accident.
• 1:00:22
  It was a cruel, shameful, cold blooded act. When I was
• 1:00:28
  young, I was taken to a place where these cruel things were done.
• 1:00:30
  I was tied up and made fast so that I could not stir. And
• 1:00:35
  then they came and cut off my long and beautiful tail, through the flesh
• 1:00:38
  and through the bone, and took it away. How dreadful, I exclaimed,
• 1:00:45
  dreadful, Ah, it was dreadful. But it was not only the
• 1:00:50
  pain, though that was terrible and lasted a long time. It was not
• 1:00:54
  only the indignity of having my best ornament taken from me, though that was
• 1:01:00
  bad, But it was this. How could I ever brush the flies off
• 1:01:05
  my sides and hide legs any more? You who have tails just whisk the
• 1:01:09
  flies off without thinking about it, And you can't tell what a torment it
• 1:01:15
  is to have them settle upon you and sting and sting, and have nothing
• 1:01:17
  in the world to lush them off with. I tell you it is a
• 1:01:22
  life long wrong and a life long loss. But thank Heaven, they don't
• 1:01:28
  do it. Now. What did they do it for, then, said
• 1:01:31
  Ginger? For fashion, said the old horse with a stamp of his foot,
• 1:01:37
  for fashion, if you know what that means. There was not a
• 1:01:43
  well bred young horse in my time that had not his tail docked in that
• 1:01:46
  shameful way, just as if the good God that made us did not know
• 1:01:51
  what we wanted and what looked best. I suppose it is fashion that makes
• 1:01:57
  them strap our heads up with those horrid bits that I was taught with in
• 1:02:00
  London, said Ginger. Of course it is, said he. To my
• 1:02:06
  mind, fashion is one of the wickedest things in the world. Now,
• 1:02:09
  look, for instance, at the way they served dogs, cutting off their
• 1:02:14
  tails to make them look plucky, and shearing up their pretty little ears to
• 1:02:19
  a point to make them look sharp forsooth. I had a dear friend,
• 1:02:23
  one's a brown terrier, Sky they called her. She was so fond of
• 1:02:28
  me that he never would sleep out of my stall. She made her bed
• 1:02:32
  under the manger, and there she had a litter of five, as pretty
• 1:02:36
  little puppies, as need be, None were drowned, for they were a
• 1:02:39
  valuable kind. And how pleased she was with them. And when they got
• 1:02:44
  their eyes opened and crawled about, it was a pretty sight. But one
• 1:02:49
  day the man came and took them all away. I thought he might be
• 1:02:52
  afraid I should tread upon them, But it was not so. In the
• 1:02:58
  evening, poor Sky brought them back again, one by one in her mouth,
• 1:03:02
  not the happy little things that they were, but bleeding and crying pitifully.
• 1:03:08
  They had all had a piece of their tails cut off, and the
• 1:03:12
  soft flap of their pretty little ears was quite cut off. How their mother
• 1:03:16
  licked them, and how troubled she was, poor thing, I never forgot
• 1:03:22
  it. They healed in time, and they forgot the pain. But the
• 1:03:28
  nighe soft flap that of course was intended to protect the delicate part of their
• 1:03:31
  ears from dust and injury, was gone forever. Why don't they cut their
• 1:03:37
  own children's ears into points to make them look sharp? Why don't they cut
• 1:03:42
  the ends off their noses to make them look plucky? One would be just
• 1:03:45
  as sensible as the other. What right have they to torment and disfigure God's
• 1:03:50
  creatures? Sir Oliver, though he was so gentle, was a fiery old
• 1:03:57
  fellow, and what he said was all so new to me and so dreadful,
• 1:04:00
  that I found a bitter feeling toward men rise up in my mind that
• 1:04:05
  I never had before. Of course, Ginger was very much excited. She
• 1:04:11
  flung up her head with flashing eyes and distended nostrils, declaring that men were
• 1:04:15
  both brutes and blockheads. Who talks about blockheads, said Merryleggs, who just
• 1:04:21
  came up from the old apple tree where he had been rubbing himself against the
• 1:04:25
  low branch. Who talks about blockheads? I believe that is a bad word.
• 1:04:31
  Bad words were made for bad things, said Ginger, and she told
• 1:04:35
  him what Sir Oliver had said. It's all true, said Mery Leggs,
• 1:04:41
  sadly. And I've seen that about the dogs over and over again where I
• 1:04:45
  lived first, But we won't talk about it here. You know that Master
• 1:04:49
  and John and James are always good to us, and talking against men in
• 1:04:55
  such a place as this doesn't seem fair or grateful. And you know there
• 1:04:59
  are good masters and good grooms besides ours, though of course ours are the
• 1:05:03
  best. This wise speech of good little merrylegs, which we knew was quite
• 1:05:09
  true, cooled us all down, specially Sir Oliver, who was dearly fond
• 1:05:14
  of his master. And to turn the subject, I said, can any
• 1:05:17
  one tell me the use of blinkers? No, said Sir Oliver shortly,
• 1:05:24
  because they are no use. They are supposed, said Justice the roan cob,
• 1:05:30
  in his calm way, to prevent horses from shying and starting and getting
• 1:05:34
  so frightened as to cause accidents. Then what is the reason they do not
• 1:05:41
  put them on riding horses, specially on ladies horses? Said I. There
• 1:05:45
  is no reason at all, said he quietly, except the fashion. They
• 1:05:50
  say that a horse would be so frightened to see the wheels of his own
• 1:05:54
  cart or carriage coming behind him, that he would be sure to run away,
• 1:05:59
  although of course, when he is ridden he sees them all about him
• 1:06:02
  if the streets are crowded, I admit they do sometimes come too close to
• 1:06:06
  be pleasant. But we don't run away. We are used to it and
• 1:06:11
  understand it. And if we never had blinkers put on, we should never
• 1:06:15
  want them. We should see what was there and know what was what,
• 1:06:18
  and be much less frightened than only seeing bits of things that we can't understand.
• 1:06:25
  Of course, there may be some nervous horses who have been hurt or
• 1:06:29
  frightened when they were young, who may be the better for them. But
• 1:06:31
  as I never was nervous, I can't charge. I consider, said Sir
• 1:06:38
  Oliver, that blinkers are dangerous things in the night. We horses can see
• 1:06:44
  much better in the dark than men can, and many an accident would never
• 1:06:47
  have happened if horses might have had the full use of their eyes. Some
• 1:06:53
  years ago, I remember there was a hearse with two horses returning one dark
• 1:06:57
  night, and just by farmers Sparrow's house, where the pond is close to
• 1:07:01
  the road. The wheels went too near the edge and the hearse was overturned
• 1:07:05
  into the water. Both the horses were drowned, and the driver hardly escaped.
• 1:07:12
  Of course, after this accident, a stout white rail was put up
• 1:07:15
  that might be easily seen. But if those horses had not been partly blinded,
• 1:07:20
  they would of themselves have kept further from the edge, and no accident
• 1:07:25
  would have happened. When our master's carriage was overturned before you came here,
• 1:07:30
  it was said that if the lamp on the left side had not gone out,
• 1:07:34
  John would have seen the great hole that the roadmakers had left, and
• 1:07:39
  so he might. But if Old Colin had not had blinkers on, he
• 1:07:42
  would have seen it lamp or no lamp, for he was far too knowing
• 1:07:45
  an old horse to run into danger. As it was, he was very
• 1:07:49
  much hurt. The carriage was broken, and how John escaped nobody knew.
• 1:07:56
  I should say, said Ginger, curling her nostril, that these men,
• 1:07:59
  who are so wise, had better give orders that in the future all folds
• 1:08:03
  should be borne with their eyes set just in the middle of their foreheads instead
• 1:08:08
  of on the side. They always think they can improve upon nature and mend
• 1:08:12
  what God has made. Things were getting rather sore again when Merrylegs held up
• 1:08:17
  his knowing little face and said, I'll tell you a secret. I believe
• 1:08:23
  John does not approve of blinkers. I heard him talking with Master about it
• 1:08:27
  one day. The Master said that if horses had been used to them,
• 1:08:31
  it might be dangerous in some cases to leave them off, And John said
• 1:08:35
  he thought it would be a good thing if all cults were broken in with
• 1:08:39
  our blinkers, as was the case in some foreign countries. So let us
• 1:08:44
  cheer up and have a run to the other end of the orchard. I
• 1:08:46
  believe the wind has blown down some apples, and we might just as well
• 1:08:49
  eat them as the slugs. Merry legs could not be resisted. So we
• 1:08:55
  broke off our long conversation and got up our spirits by munchings and very sweet
• 1:08:59
  apples, which lay scattered on the grass. End of Chapter ten, Chapter
• 1:09:10
  eleven, plain speaking. The longer I lived at Bertwick, the more proud
• 1:09:17
  and happy I felt at having such a place. Our master and mistress were
• 1:09:21
  respected and beloved by all who knew them. They were good and kind to
• 1:09:28
  everybody and everything, not only men and women, but horses and donkeys,
• 1:09:32
  dogs and cats, cattle and birds. There was no oppressed or ill used
• 1:09:38
  creature that had not a friend in them, and their servants took the same
• 1:09:41
  tone. If any of the village children were known to treat any creature cruelly,
• 1:09:46
  they soon heard about it from the hall. The squire and farmer Gray
• 1:09:51
  had worked together, as they said, for more than twenty years, to
• 1:09:55
  get check reins on the cart horses done away with, and in our parts
• 1:09:59
  you seldom see aw them and sometimes if Mistress met a heavily laden horse with
• 1:10:03
  his head strained up, she would stop the carriage and get out and reason
• 1:10:08
  with the driver in her sweet, serious voice, and try to show him
• 1:10:12
  how foolish and cruel it was. I don't think any man could withstand our
• 1:10:16
  Mistress. I wish all ladies were like her. Our Master, too,
• 1:10:21
  used to come down very heavy sometimes. I remember he was riding me toward
• 1:10:27
  home one morning when we saw a powerful man driving toward us in a light
• 1:10:30
  pony chaise with a beautiful little bay pony with slender legs and a high bred
• 1:10:36
  sensitive head and face. Just as he came to the park gates, the
• 1:10:41
  little thing turned toward them. The man, without word or warning, wrenched
• 1:10:45
  the creature's head round with such a force and suddenness that he nearly threw it
• 1:10:49
  on its haunches. Recovering itself it was going on when he began to lash
• 1:10:55
  it furiously. The pony plunged forward, but the strong, heavy hand held
• 1:11:00
  the pretty creature back with force almost enough to break its jaw, while the
• 1:11:04
  whip still cut into him. It was a dreadful sight to me, for
• 1:11:10
  I knew what fearful pain it gave that delicate little mouth. But Master gave
• 1:11:14
  me the word, and we were up with them in a second. Sawyer,
• 1:11:17
  he cried, in a stern voice, is that pony made of flesh
• 1:11:21
  and blood? Flesh and blood and temper? He said, he's too fond
• 1:11:27
  of his own will, and that won't suit me. He spoke as if
• 1:11:30
  he was in a strong passion. He was a builder who had often been
• 1:11:33
  to the park on business. And do you think, said Master sternly,
• 1:11:39
  the treatment like this will make him fond of your will? He had no
• 1:11:43
  business to make that turn. His road was straight on, said the man.
• 1:11:47
  Roughly. You have often driven that pony up to my place, said
• 1:11:51
  Master. It only shows the creature's memory and intelligence. How did he know
• 1:11:57
  that you were not going there again? But that has little to do with
• 1:12:00
  it. I must say, mister Sawyer, that a more unmanly, brutal
• 1:12:04
  treatment of a little pony it was never my painful lot to witness. And
• 1:12:09
  by giving way to such passion, you injure your own character as much,
• 1:12:13
  nay more than you injure your horse. And remember, we shall all have
• 1:12:17
  to be judged according to our works, whether they be toward man or toward
• 1:12:21
  beast. Master rode me home slowly, and I could tell by his voice
• 1:12:28
  how the thing had grieved him. He was just as free to speak to
• 1:12:31
  gentlemen of his own rank as to those below him. For another day,
• 1:12:35
  when we were out, we met a Captain Langley, a friend of our
• 1:12:39
  masters. He was driving a splendid pair of grays in a kind of break.
• 1:12:44
  After a little conversation, the captain said, what do you think of
• 1:12:48
  my new team? Mister Douglas. You know you are the judge of horses
• 1:12:53
  in these parts, and I should like your opinion. The Master backed me
• 1:12:57
  a little so as to get a good few of them. They are an
• 1:13:00
  uncommonly handsome pair, he said, And if they are as good as they
• 1:13:03
  look, I am sure you need not wish for anything better. But I
• 1:13:08
  see you still hold that pet scheme of yours for worrying your horses and lessening
• 1:13:12
  their power. What do you mean, said the other the check reins,
• 1:13:16
  Oh ah, I know that's a hobby of yours. Well. The fact
• 1:13:20
  is I like to see my horses hold their heads up, so do I
• 1:13:25
  said Master, as well as any man. But I don't like to see
• 1:13:29
  them held up that takes all the shine out of it. Now you are
• 1:13:32
  a military man, Langley, and no doubt you like to see your regiment
• 1:13:35
  look well on parade, heads up and all that, But you would not
• 1:13:40
  take much credit for your drill. If all your men had their heads tied
• 1:13:44
  to a backboard, it might not be much harm on parade, except to
• 1:13:47
  worry and fatigue them. But how would it be in a bayonet charge against
• 1:13:51
  the enemy, when they want the free use of every muscle and all their
• 1:13:55
  strength thrown forward. I would not give much for their chance of victory.
• 1:14:00
  And it is just the same with horses. You fret and worry their tempers
• 1:14:03
  and decrease their power. You will not let them throw their weight against their
• 1:14:08
  work, and so they have to do too much with their joints and muscles,
• 1:14:12
  and of course it wears them up faster. You may depend upon it.
• 1:14:15
  Horses were intended to have their heads free, as free as men's are.
• 1:14:19
  And if we could act a little more according to common sense, and
• 1:14:23
  a good deal less according to fashion, we should find many things work easier.
• 1:14:29
  Besides, you know as well as I that if a horse makes a
• 1:14:31
  false step, he has much less chance of recovering himself if his head and
• 1:14:35
  neck are fastened back. And now, said the master, laughing, I
• 1:14:40
  have given my hobby a good trot out. Can't you make up your mind
• 1:14:43
  to mount him too? Captain, your example would go a long way.
• 1:14:47
  I believe you are right in theory, said the other. And that's rather
• 1:14:51
  a hard hit about the soldiers. But well, I'll think about it.
• 1:14:59
  And so they parted. End of Chapter eleven. Chapter twelve. A stormy
• 1:15:06
  day one day late in autumn, my master had a long journey to go
• 1:15:13
  on business. I was put into the dog cart, and John went with
• 1:15:17
  his master. I always liked to go in the dog cart. It was
• 1:15:21
  so light, and the high wheels ran along so pleasantly. There had been
• 1:15:27
  a great deal of rain, and now the wind was very high and blew
• 1:15:30
  the dry leaves across the road in a shower. We went along merrily till
• 1:15:35
  we came to the toll bar and the low wooden bridge. The river banks
• 1:15:42
  were rather high, and the bridge, instead of rising, went across just
• 1:15:46
  level, so that in the middle, if the river was full, the
• 1:15:50
  water would be nearly up to the woodwork and the planks. But as there
• 1:15:55
  were good substantial rails on each side. People did not mind it. The
• 1:16:00
  man at the gate said the river was rising fast, and he feared it
• 1:16:04
  would be a bad night. Many of the meadows were under water, and
• 1:16:10
  in one low part of the road the water was half way up to my
• 1:16:14
  knees. The bottom was good, and the Master drove gently, so it
• 1:16:19
  was no matter when we got to the town. Of course, I had
• 1:16:24
  a good bait, But as the master's business engaged him a long time,
• 1:16:29
  we did not start for home till rather late in the afternoon. The wind
• 1:16:33
  was then much higher, and I heard the Master say to John that he
• 1:16:38
  had never been out in such a storm. And so I thought, as
• 1:16:42
  we went along the skirts of a wood, where the great branches were swaying
• 1:16:46
  about like twigs, and the rushing sound was terrible, I wish we were
• 1:16:53
  well out of this wood, said my Master. Yes, sir, said
• 1:16:58
  John, it would be rather or awkward if one of these branches came down
• 1:17:01
  upon us. The words were scarcely out of his mouth when there was a
• 1:17:08
  groan and a crack, and a splitting sound, and tearing crashing down among
• 1:17:13
  the other trees came an oak torn up by the roots, and it fell
• 1:17:17
  right across the road just before us. I will never say that I was
• 1:17:23
  not frightened, for I was. I stopped still, and I believe I
• 1:17:28
  trembled. Of course, I did not turn around or run away. I
• 1:17:31
  was not brought up to that. John jumped out and was in a moment
• 1:17:36
  at my head. That was a very near touch, said my master.
• 1:17:44
  What's to be done now? Well, sir, we can't drive over that
• 1:17:48
  tree, nor yet get around it. There will be nothing for it but
• 1:17:54
  to go back to the fore crossways, and that will be a good six
• 1:17:58
  miles before we get round to the wind bridge again. It'll make us late,
• 1:18:02
  but the horse is fresh. So back we went and round by the
• 1:18:09
  crossroads. But by the time we got to the bridge it was very nearly
• 1:18:13
  dark. We could just see that the water was over the middle of it.
• 1:18:17
  But as that happened sometimes when the floods were out, Master did not
• 1:18:21
  stop. We were going along at a good pace. But the moment my
• 1:18:27
  feet touched the first part of the bridge, I felt sure there was something
• 1:18:30
  wrong. I dare not go forward, and I made a dead stop.
• 1:18:35
  Go on, beauty, said my master, and he gave me a touch
• 1:18:40
  with the whip, but I dare not stir. He gave me a sharp
• 1:18:44
  cut. I jumped, but I dare not go forward. There's something wrong,
• 1:18:50
  sir, said John, And he sprang out of the dog cart and
• 1:18:54
  came to my head and looked all about. He tried to lead me forward.
• 1:19:00
  Come on, beauty, what's the matter? Of course I could not
• 1:19:04
  tell him, but I knew very well that the bridge was not safe.
• 1:19:11
  Just then the man at the toll gate on the other side ran out of
• 1:19:15
  the house, tossing a torch about like one mad HIHIHI Hello, stop,
• 1:19:20
  he cried. What's the matter? Shouted my master. The bridge is broken
• 1:19:27
  in the middle, and part of it is carried away. If you come
• 1:19:30
  on, you'll be into the river. Thank God, said my master.
• 1:19:36
  You beauty, said John, and took the bridle and gently turned me round
• 1:19:43
  to the right hand road by the river side. The sun had set some
• 1:19:46
  time. The wind seemed to have lulled off. After that furious blast which
• 1:19:51
  tore up the tree, It grew darker and darker. Stiller and Stiller trotted
• 1:20:00
  quietly along the wheels, hardly making a sound on the soft road. For
• 1:20:04
  a good while, neither Master nor John spoke, and then Master began in
• 1:20:10
  a serious voice. I could not understand much of what they said, but
• 1:20:15
  I found they thought if I had gone on as the Master had wanted me,
• 1:20:20
  most likely the bridge would have given way under us, and horse chase,
• 1:20:26
  Master and man would have fallen into the river. And as the current
• 1:20:30
  was flowing very strongly, and there was no light and no help at hand,
• 1:20:35
  it was more than likely we should have all drowned. Master said God
• 1:20:41
  had given men reason by which they could find out things for themselves, but
• 1:20:46
  he had given animals knowledge which did not depend on reason, and which was
• 1:20:51
  much more prompt and perfect in its way, and by which they had often
• 1:20:57
  saved the lives of men. John had any stories to tell of dogs and
• 1:21:01
  horses and the wonderful things they had done. He thought people did not value
• 1:21:06
  their animals half enough, nor make friends of them as they ought to do.
• 1:21:11
  I'm sure he makes friends of them, if ever a man did.
• 1:21:16
  At last, we came to the park gates and found the gardener looking out
• 1:21:20
  for us. He said that Mistress had been in a dreadful way ever since
• 1:21:25
  dark, fearing some accident had happened, and that she had sent James off
• 1:21:30
  on justice. The roan cob toward the Wooden Bridge to make inquiry. After
• 1:21:34
  us, we saw a light at the hall door and at the upper windows,
• 1:21:40
  and as we came up, Mistress ran out, saying, are you
• 1:21:43
  really safe, my dear? Oh, I have been so anxious, fancying
• 1:21:46
  all sorts of things. Have you had no accident? No, my dear,
• 1:21:53
  But if your black beauty had not been wiser than we were, we
• 1:21:57
  should all have been carried down the river at the Wooden rich. I heard
• 1:22:00
  no more as they went into the house, and John took me to the
• 1:22:04
  stable. Oh what a good supper he gave me that night, a good
• 1:22:10
  brand mash, and some crushed beans with my oats, and such a thick
• 1:22:15
  bit of straw. And I was glad of it, for I was tired.
• 1:22:21
  End of Chapter twelve, Chapter thirteen, The Devil's Trademark. One day,
• 1:22:29
  when John and I had been out on some business of our masters,
• 1:22:31
  and were returning gently on a long straight road. At some distance, we
• 1:22:35
  saw a boy trying to leap a pony over a gate. The pony would
• 1:22:39
  not take the leap, and the boy cut him with the whip, but
• 1:22:42
  he only turned off on one side. He whipped him again, but he
• 1:22:45
  only turned off on the other side. Then the boy got off and gave
• 1:22:48
  him a hard thrashing and knocked him about the head. Then he got up
• 1:22:51
  again and tried to make him leap the gate, kicking him all the time
• 1:22:55
  shamefully, but still the pony refused. When we were nearly at the spot,
• 1:22:59
  the pony put down his head and threw up his heels and sent the
• 1:23:01
  boy neatly over into a broad quickset hedge, and with the rein dangling from
• 1:23:05
  his head, he set off home at a full gallop. John laughed out
• 1:23:10
  quite loud. Served him right, he said, Oh, oh, oh,
• 1:23:14
  cried the boy, as he struggled about among the thorns. I say,
• 1:23:17
  come and help me out, thank'ee, said John. I think you're
• 1:23:20
  quite in the right place, and maybe a little scratch and will teach you
• 1:23:25
  not to leap a pony over a gate that is too high for him.
• 1:23:28
  And so with that John rode off. It may be said he to himself,
• 1:23:31
  that young fellow is a liar as well as a cruel one. We'll
• 1:23:34
  just go home by Farmer Bushby's beauty, and then if anybody wants to know
• 1:23:39
  you and I can tell him, you see. So we turned off to
• 1:23:42
  the right and soon came up to the stock yard, and within sight of
• 1:23:44
  the house, the farmer was hurrying out into the road, and his wife
• 1:23:47
  was standing at the gate, looking very frightened. Have you seen my boy,
• 1:23:51
  said mister Bushby as he came up. He went out an hour ago
• 1:23:56
  on my black pony, and the creature has just come back without a rider.
• 1:24:00
  I should think, sir, said John. He had better be without
• 1:24:02
  a rider unless he can be ridden properly. What do you mean, said
• 1:24:05
  the farmer, Well, sir, I saw your son whipping and kicking and
• 1:24:11
  knocking that good little pony about shamefully because he would not leave a gate that
• 1:24:15
  was too high for him. Your pony behaved well, sir, and showed
• 1:24:17
  no vice. But at last he just threw up his heels and tipped the
• 1:24:20
  young gentleman into the thorn hedge. He wanted me to help him out,
• 1:24:25
  but I hope you will excuse me, sir, I did not feel inclined
• 1:24:27
  to do so. There's no bones broken, sir, He'll only get a
• 1:24:30
  few scratches. I love horses and it riles me to see them badly used.
• 1:24:34
  Is a bad plan to aggravate an animal till he uses his heels.
• 1:24:38
  The first time is not always the last. During this time, the mother
• 1:24:42
  began to cry, Oh my poor Bill. I must go and meet him.
• 1:24:45
  He must be hurt. You had better go into the house, wife
• 1:24:47
  said the farmer. Bill wants a lesson about this, and I must see
• 1:24:51
  that he gets it. This is not the first time, nor the second
• 1:24:55
  that he has ill used that pony, and I shall stop it. I
• 1:24:58
  am much obliged to you. Manly good evening. So we went on,
• 1:25:01
  John chuckling all the way home. Then he told James about it, who
• 1:25:04
  laughed and said, serve him right. I knew that boy at school.
• 1:25:09
  He took great airs on himself because he was a farmer's son. He used
• 1:25:12
  to swagger about and bully the little boys. Of course, we elder ones
• 1:25:15
  would not have any of that nonsense, and let him know that in the
• 1:25:18
  school and the playground, farmers sons and laborers sons were all alike. I
• 1:25:23
  well remember one day, just before afternoon school, I found him at the
• 1:25:26
  large window catching flies and pulling off their wings. He did not see me,
• 1:25:30
  and I gave him a box on the ears that laid him sprawling on
• 1:25:32
  the floor. Well angry as I was, I was almost frightened. He
• 1:25:36
  roared and bellowed in such a style. The boys rushed in from the playground,
• 1:25:41
  and the Master ran in from the road to see who was being murdered.
• 1:25:44
  Of course, I said far and square at once what I had done,
• 1:25:46
  and why. Then I showed the Master the flies, some crushed and
• 1:25:49
  some crawling about helpless, and I showed him the wings on the window sill.
• 1:25:54
  I never saw him so angry before. But as Bill was still howling
• 1:25:58
  and whining like the coward that he would, he did not give him any
• 1:26:00
  more punishment of that kind, but set him up on a stool for the
• 1:26:03
  rest of the afternoon, and said that he should not go out to play
• 1:26:06
  for that week. Then he talked to all the boys very seriously about cruelty,
• 1:26:12
  and said how hard hearted and cowardly it was to hurt the weak and
• 1:26:15
  the helpless. But was stuck in my mind was this. He said that
• 1:26:19
  cruelty was the devil's own trade mark, and if we saw any one who
• 1:26:23
  took pleasure in cruelty, we might know who he belonged to. For the
• 1:26:27
  devil was a murderer from the beginning, and a tormentor to the end.
• 1:26:30
  On the other hand, where we saw people who loved their neighbors and were
• 1:26:33
  kind to man and beast, we might know that was God's mark. Your
• 1:26:38
  master never taught you a truer thing, said John. There is no religion
• 1:26:41
  without love. And people may talk as much as they like about their religion,
• 1:26:45
  but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man
• 1:26:47
  and beast, it is all a sham, all a sham, James,
• 1:26:50
  and it won't stand when things come to be turned inside out. End of
• 1:26:55
  Chapter thirteen, Chapter fourteen, James Howard. Early one morning in December.
• 1:27:02
  John had just led me back into my box after my daily exercise and was
• 1:27:05
  strapping my cloth on, and James was coming in from the corn chamber with
• 1:27:10
  some oats. When the Master came into the stable, he looked rather serious
• 1:27:14
  and held an open letter in his hand. John fastened the door of my
• 1:27:17
  box, touched his cap, and waited for orders. Good morning, John
• 1:27:23
  said the Master. I want to know if you have any complaint to make
• 1:27:26
  of James complaint sir, No, sir, is he industrious at his work
• 1:27:31
  and respectful to you. Yes, sir, always you never find he slights
• 1:27:36
  his work when your back is turned. Never, sir, that's well.
• 1:27:41
  But I must put another question. Have you no reason to suspect when he
• 1:27:45
  goes out with the horses to exercise them or to take a message, that
• 1:27:47
  he stops about talking to his acquaintances, or goes into houses where he has
• 1:27:51
  no business leaving the horses outside. No, sir, certainly not. And
• 1:27:56
  if anybody has been saying that about James, I don't believe it, and
• 1:27:59
  I don't to believe it unless I have it fairly proved before witnesses. It's
• 1:28:02
  not for me to say who has been trying to take away James's character.
• 1:28:05
  But I will say this, sir, that a steadier pleasanter, honester,
• 1:28:10
  smarter young fellow I never had in this stable. I can trust his word,
• 1:28:14
  and I can trust his work. He is gentle and clever with the
• 1:28:15
  horses, and I would rather have them in charge with him than with half
• 1:28:19
  the young fellows I know of in laced hats and liveries. And whoever wants
• 1:28:23
  a character of James, Howard said John, with a decided jerk of his
• 1:28:27
  head, let them come to John manly. The master stood all this time,
• 1:28:31
  grave and attentive. But as John finished his speech, a broad smile
• 1:28:34
  spread over his face, and, looking kindly across at James, who all
• 1:28:39
  this time had stood still at the door, he said, James, my
• 1:28:42
  lad, set down the oats and come here. I am very glad to
• 1:28:45
  find that John's opinion of your character agrees so exactly with my own. John
• 1:28:49
  is a cautious man, he said, with a droll smile, and it
• 1:28:53
  is not always easy to get his opinion about people. So I thought if
• 1:28:57
  I beat the bush on this side, the birds would fly out, and
• 1:29:00
  I should learn what I wanted to know quickly. So now we will come
• 1:29:02
  to business. I have a letter from my brother in law, Sir Clifford
• 1:29:06
  William of Clifford Hall. He wants me to find him a trustworthy young groom,
• 1:29:11
  about twenty or twenty one, who knows his business. His old coachman,
• 1:29:15
  who has lived with him thirty years, is getting feeble, and he
• 1:29:18
  wants a man to work with him and get into his ways, who would
• 1:29:21
  be able when the old man was pensioned off to step into his place.
• 1:29:26
  He would have eighteen shillings a week at first, a stable suit, a
• 1:29:29
  driving suit, a bedroom over the coach house, and a boy under him.
• 1:29:32
  Sir Clifford is a good master, and if you could get the place,
• 1:29:35
  it would be a good start with you. I don't want to part
• 1:29:38
  with you. And if you left us, I know John would lose his
• 1:29:41
  right hand. That I should, Sir, said John, But I would
• 1:29:44
  not stand in his light for the world. How old are you, James,
• 1:29:47
  said Master, nineteen Next may, Sir, that's young. What do
• 1:29:54
  you think, John, Well, Sir, it is young. But he
• 1:29:57
  is as steady as a man, and as strong and well grown. And
• 1:30:00
  though he has not had much experience in driving, he has a light,
• 1:30:02
  firm hand and a quick eye when he is very careful. And I am
• 1:30:05
  quite sure no horse of his will be ruined for want of having his feet
• 1:30:09
  and shoes. Luck after your word will go the furthest John, said the
• 1:30:14
  Master for Sir Clifford adds in a PostScript, if I could find a man
• 1:30:16
  trained by your John, I should like him better than any other. So
• 1:30:20
  James, lad think it over, talk to your mother at dinner time,
• 1:30:25
  and then let me know what you wish. In a few days after this
• 1:30:29
  conversation, it was fully settled that James should go to Clifford Hall in a
• 1:30:31
  month or six weeks as it suited his master, and in the meantime he
• 1:30:35
  was to get all the practice in driving that could be given to him.
• 1:30:40
  I never knew the carriage to go out so often before when the mistress did
• 1:30:43
  not go out, the Master drove himself in the two wheeled chaise. But
• 1:30:46
  now whether it was Master of the young ladies or only an errand Ginger and
• 1:30:50
  I were put in the carriage and James drove us. At the first John
• 1:30:55
  rode with him on the box, telling him this and that, and after
• 1:30:58
  that James drove alone. Then it was wonderful what a number of places the
• 1:31:02
  Master would go to in the city on Saturday, and what queer streets we
• 1:31:05
  were driven through. He was sure to go to the railway station just as
• 1:31:10
  the train was coming in, and cabs and carriages, carts and omnibuses were
• 1:31:14
  all trying to get over the bridge together. That bridge wanted good horses and
• 1:31:17
  good drivers when the railway bell was ringing, for it was narrow and there
• 1:31:20
  was a very sharp turn up to the station, where it would not have
• 1:31:24
  been at all difficult for people to run into each other if they did not
• 1:31:27
  look sharp and keep their wits about them. End of Chapter fourteen, Chapter
• 1:31:31
  fifteen, The Old Hostler. After this, it was decided by my master
• 1:31:38
  and Mistress to pay a visit to some friends who lived about forty six miles
• 1:31:42
  from our home, and James Whiz to drive them. The first day we
• 1:31:45
  traveled thirty two miles. There were some long, heavy hills, but James
• 1:31:48
  drove so carefully and thoughtfully that we were not at all harassed. He never
• 1:31:54
  forgot to put on the brake as we went downhill, nor to take it
• 1:31:57
  off at the right place. He kept our feet on the smoothest part of
• 1:32:00
  the road, and if the uphill was very long, he set the carriage
• 1:32:02
  wheels a little across the road so as not to run back, and gave
• 1:32:06
  us a breathing. All these little things help a horse very much, particularly
• 1:32:11
  if he gets kind words into the bargain. We stopped once or twice on
• 1:32:15
  the road, and just as the sun was going down, we reached the
• 1:32:16
  town where we were to spend the night. We stopped at the principal hotel,
• 1:32:20
  which was in the market place. It was a very large one.
• 1:32:24
  We drove under an archway into a long yard at the further end of which
• 1:32:28
  were the stables and coach houses. Two hostlers came to take us out.
• 1:32:31
  The head hostler was a pleasant, active little man with a crooked leg and
• 1:32:34
  a yellow striped waistcoat. I never saw a man unbuckle harness so quickly as
• 1:32:40
  he did, and with a pad and a good word, he led me
• 1:32:42
  to a long stable with six or eight stalls in it and two or three
• 1:32:45
  horses. The other man brought ginger. James stood by while we were rubbed
• 1:32:49
  down and cleaned. I never was cleaned so lightly and quickly as by that
• 1:32:54
  little old man. When he had done, James stepped up and felt me
• 1:32:57
  over, as if he thought I could not be thoroughly done. But he
• 1:33:00
  found my coat as clean and smooth as silk. Well, he said,
• 1:33:03
  I thought I was pretty quick, and I'm drawn quicker still, But you
• 1:33:06
  do beat all I ever saw for being quick and thorough at the same time.
• 1:33:11
  Practice makes perfect, said the crooked little hostler. And twould be a
• 1:33:15
  pity if it didn't forty years practice and not perfect. Hah, that would
• 1:33:18
  be a pity. And as to being quick, why bless you that is
• 1:33:21
  only a matter of habit. If you get into the habit of being quick,
• 1:33:25
  it is just as easy as being slow, easier, I should say.
• 1:33:29
  In fact, it don't agree with my health to be hulking about over
• 1:33:31
  a job twice as long as it need take. Bless you, I couldn't
• 1:33:34
  whistle if I crawled over my work, as some folks do. You see,
• 1:33:38
  I have been about horses ever since I was twelve years old, in
• 1:33:41
  hunting stables and racing stables, and being small, you see, I was
• 1:33:45
  jockey for several years. But at the Goodwood, you see, the turf
• 1:33:48
  was very slippery, and my pearl Larkspur got a fall and I broke my
• 1:33:51
  knee, and so of course I was of no more use there. But
• 1:33:55
  I could not live without horses, of course I couldn't, so I took
• 1:33:58
  to the hotels. And I can tell it is a downright pleasure to handle
• 1:34:01
  an animal like this, well bred, well mannered, well cared for.
• 1:34:04
  Blessy, I can tell how a horse is treated. Give me the handling
• 1:34:08
  of a horse for twenty minutes, and I'll tell you what sort of a
• 1:34:11
  groom he has had. Look at this one, pleasant quiet turns about just
• 1:34:15
  as you want him, holds up his feet to be cleaned out, or
• 1:34:16
  anything else you please to wish. Then you'll find another fidgety fredericly won't move
• 1:34:21
  the right way, or starts across the stall, tosses up his head as
• 1:34:25
  soon as you come near him, lays his ears and seems afraid of you
• 1:34:29
  or else, squares about at you with his heels. Poor things, I
• 1:34:31
  know what sort of treatment they have had. If they are timid, it
• 1:34:34
  makes them start or shy. If they are high metal, it makes them
• 1:34:38
  vicious or dangerous. Their temples are mostly made when they are young, Bless
• 1:34:42
  you. They are like children. Train him up in the way they should
• 1:34:45
  go, as the Good Book says, and when they are old they will
• 1:34:46
  not depart from it if they have a chance. I like to hear you
• 1:34:50
  talk, said James. That's the way we lay it down at home and
• 1:34:54
  our masters. Who is your master, young man? If it be a
• 1:34:58
  proper question, I should judge is a good one. From what I see
• 1:35:01
  he is Squire Gordon of Berdwick Park, the other side of the Beacon Hills,
• 1:35:05
  said James. Ah so so I have heard tell of him, A
• 1:35:10
  fine judge of horses. Ain't he the best rider in the county. I
• 1:35:14
  believe he is, said James, But he rides very little now since the
• 1:35:17
  poor young master was killed. Ah, poor gentleman. I read all about
• 1:35:21
  it in the paper at the time. A fine horse killed too, wasn't
• 1:35:25
  there, yes, said James. He was a splendid creature brother to this
• 1:35:30
  one, and just like him. Pity, pity, said the old man.
• 1:35:33
  Twas a bad place to leap, if I remember, a thin fence
• 1:35:36
  at top a steep bank down to the stream. Wasn't it no chance for
• 1:35:41
  a horse to see where he is going? Now? I am for bold
• 1:35:44
  riding as much as any man, but still there are some leaps that only
• 1:35:46
  a very known old huntsman has any right to take. A man's life and
• 1:35:51
  a horse's life are worth more than a fox's tail, at least I should
• 1:35:56
  say they ought to be. During this time, the other man had finished
• 1:35:59
  ginger and had brought our corn, and James and the old man left the
• 1:36:02
  stable together. End of Chapter fifteen, Chapter sixteen, the fire. Later
• 1:36:12
  on in the evening, a traveler's horse was brought in by the second hostler,
• 1:36:15
  and while he was cleaning him up, a young man with a pipe
• 1:36:19
  in his mouth lounged into the stable to gossip. I say, Towler said
• 1:36:25
  the hostler just run up the ladder into the loft and put some hay down
• 1:36:29
  into this horse's rack. Will you only lay down your pipe, all right?
• 1:36:33
  Said the other, and went up through the trap door. And I
• 1:36:36
  heard him step across the floor overhead and put down the hay. James came
• 1:36:42
  in to look at us the last thing, and then the door was locked.
• 1:36:45
  I cannot say how long I had slept, nor what time in the
• 1:36:49
  night it was, but I woke up very uncomfortable, though I hardly knew
• 1:36:54
  why I got up. The air seemed all thick and choking. I heard
• 1:37:00
  Ginger coughing, and one of the other horses seemed restless. It was quite
• 1:37:04
  dark and I could see nothing, but the stable seemed full of smoke,
• 1:37:09
  and I hardly knew how to breathe. The trap door had been left open,
• 1:37:14
  and I thought that was the place it came through. I listened and
• 1:37:17
  heard a soft, rushing sort of noise and a low crackling and snapping.
• 1:37:23
  I did not know what it was, but there was something in the sound
• 1:37:27
  so strange that it made me tremble all over. The other horses were all
• 1:37:31
  awake, some were pulling at their halters, others stamping. At last I
• 1:37:36
  heard steps outside, and the hostler, who had put up the traveler's horse,
• 1:37:41
  burst into the stable with a lantern and began to untie the horses and
• 1:37:45
  try to lead them out. But he seemed in such a hurry, and
• 1:37:49
  so frightened himself that he frightened me still more. The first horse would not
• 1:37:55
  go with him. He tried the second and the third, and they too
• 1:37:58
  would not stir. He came to me next and tried to drag me out
• 1:38:01
  of the stall by force. Of course, that was no use. He
• 1:38:05
  tried us all by turns, and then left the stable. No doubt,
• 1:38:11
  we were very foolish, but danger seemed to be all round, and there
• 1:38:15
  was nobody we knew to trust in, and all was strange and uncertain.
• 1:38:19
  The fresh air that had come in through the open door made it easier to
• 1:38:23
  breathe, but the rushing sound overhead grew louder, and as I looked upward
• 1:38:28
  through the bars of my empty rack, I saw a red light flickering on
• 1:38:31
  the wall. Then I heard a cry of fire outside, and the old
• 1:38:36
  hustler quietly and quickly came in. He got one horse out, went to
• 1:38:41
  another, but the flames were playing round the trap door, and the roaring
• 1:38:45
  overhead was dreadful. The next thing I heard was James's voice, quiet and
• 1:38:50
  cheery as it always was. Come, my beauties, it is time for
• 1:38:55
  us to be off, So wake up and come along. I stood nearest
• 1:38:59
  the door, so he came to me first, patting me as he came
• 1:39:02
  in. Come beauty, on with your bridle, my boy, we'll soon
• 1:39:06
  be out of this smother. It was on in no time, and he
• 1:39:11
  took the scarf off his neck and tied it lightly over my eyes, and
• 1:39:15
  patting and coaxing, he let me out of the stable. Safe in the
• 1:39:18
  yard. He slipped the scarf off my eyes and shouted, here, somebody
• 1:39:21
  take this horse while I go back for the other. A tall broad man
• 1:39:27
  stepped forward and took me, and James darted back into the stable. I
• 1:39:31
  set up a shrill whinny as I saw him go. Ginger told me afterward
• 1:39:35
  that Winnie was the best thing I could have done for her, for had
• 1:39:40
  she not heard me outside, she would never have had the courage to come
• 1:39:43
  out. There was much confusion in the yard, the horses being got out
• 1:39:47
  of other stables, and the carriages and gigs being pulled out of houses and
• 1:39:53
  sheds lest the flames should spread further. On the other side, the yard
• 1:39:57
  windows were thrown up, and people were shouting all sorts of things. But
• 1:40:01
  I kept my eye fixed on the stable door, where the smoke poured out
• 1:40:05
  thicker than ever, and I could see flashes of red light. Presently I
• 1:40:11
  heard, above all the stir and din, a loud, clear voice,
• 1:40:15
  which I knew was my master's. James Howard, James, Howard, are
• 1:40:20
  you there? There was no answer, but I heard a crash of something
• 1:40:25
  falling in the stable, and the next moment I gave a loud, joyful
• 1:40:29
  neigh, for I saw James coming through the smoke, leading Ginger with him.
• 1:40:32
  She was coughing violently, and he was not able to speak. My
• 1:40:38
  brave lad, said Master, laying his hand on his shoulder. How you
• 1:40:42
  hurt? James shook his head, for he could not yet speak. Aye,
• 1:40:46
  said the big man who held me. He is a brave lad,
• 1:40:49
  and no mistake. And now said Master, when you've caught your breath,
• 1:40:54
  James, we'll get out of this place as quickly as we can, and
• 1:40:58
  we were moving toward the end entry when from the market place there came a
• 1:41:01
  sound of galloping feet and loud rumbling wheels. Tis the fire engine. The
• 1:41:06
  fire engine shouted two or three voices, stand back and make way, and
• 1:41:12
  clattering and thundering over the stones, two horses dashed into the yard with a
• 1:41:16
  heavy engine behind them. The fireman leaped to the ground. There was no
• 1:41:21
  need to ask where the fire was. It was rolling up in a great
• 1:41:26
  blaze from the roof. We got out as fast as we could into the
• 1:41:30
  broad, quiet market place. The stars were shining, and except the noise
• 1:41:35
  behind us, all was still. Master led the way to a large hotel
• 1:41:40
  on the other side, and as soon as the hostler came, he said,
• 1:41:44
  James, I must now hasten to your mistress. I trust the horses
• 1:41:48
  entirely to you. Order whatever you think is needed, and with that he
• 1:41:53
  was gone. The Master did not run, but I never saw a mortal
• 1:41:57
  man walk so fast as he did that night. There was a dreadful sound
• 1:42:01
  before we got into our stalls, the shrieks of those poor horses that were
• 1:42:05
  left burning to death in the stable. It was very terrible, and both
• 1:42:11
  Ginger and me feel very bad. We, however, were taken in and
• 1:42:15
  well done. By the next morning, the Master came to see how we
• 1:42:20
  were and to speak to James. I did not hear much, for the
• 1:42:24
  hostler was rubbing me down, but I could see that James looked very happy,
• 1:42:29
  and I thought the Master was proud of him. Our mistress had been
• 1:42:32
  so much alarmed in the night that the journey was put off till the afternoon,
• 1:42:38
  so James had the morning on hand and went first to the inn to
• 1:42:41
  see about our harness and carriage, and then to hear more about the fire.
• 1:42:45
  When he came back, we heard him tell the hostler about it.
• 1:42:48
  At first, no one could guess how the fire had been caused, but
• 1:42:53
  at last a man said he saw Dick Towler go into the stable with a
• 1:42:57
  pipe in his mouth, and when he came out he had not had one
• 1:43:00
  and went to tap for another. Then the under hostler said he had asked
• 1:43:05
  Dick to go up the ladder to put down some hay, but told him
• 1:43:10
  to lay down his pipe first. Dick denied taking the pipe with him,
• 1:43:14
  but no one believed him. I remember our John Manley's rule never to allow
• 1:43:18
  a pipe in the stable, and thought it ought to be the rule everywhere.
• 1:43:24
  James said the roof and floor had all fallen in, and that only
• 1:43:28
  the black walls were standing. The two poor horses that could not be got
• 1:43:31
  out were buried under the burnt rafters and tiles. End of Chapter sixteen,
• 1:43:42
  Chapter seventeen, John Manley's talk. The rest of our journey was very easy,
• 1:43:49
  and a little after sunset we reached the house of my master's friend.
• 1:43:55
  We were taken into a clean, snug stable. There was a kind coachman
• 1:43:59
  who made us very comfortable, and who seemed to think a good deal of
• 1:44:02
  James. When he heard about the fire. There is one thing quite clear,
• 1:44:06
  young man, He said, your horses know who they can trust.
• 1:44:12
  It is one of the hardest things in the world to get horses out of
• 1:44:14
  a stable when there is either fire or flood. I don't know why they
• 1:44:17
  won't come out, but they won't, not one in twenty We stopped two
• 1:44:24
  or three days at this place and then returned home. All went well on
• 1:44:28
  the journey. We were glad to be in our own stable again, and
• 1:44:31
  John was equally glad to see us. Before he and James left us for
• 1:44:36
  the night, James said, I wonder who is coming in my place?
• 1:44:42
  Little Joe Green at the lodge, said John. Little Joe Green, Why
• 1:44:45
  he's just a child. He is fourteen and a half, said John.
• 1:44:51
  But he is such a little chap. Yes, he is small, but
• 1:44:56
  he is quick and willing and kind hearted too. And then and he wishes
• 1:45:00
  very much to come, and his father would like it, and I know
• 1:45:02
  the Master would like to give him the chance. He said. If I
• 1:45:06
  thought he would not do, he would look out for a bigger boy.
• 1:45:10
  But I said, I was quite agreeable to try him for six weeks.
• 1:45:14
  Six weeks, said James. Why it will be six months before he can
• 1:45:17
  be of much use. It will make you a deal of work, John
• 1:45:23
  Well, said John, with a laugh. Work and I are very good
• 1:45:26
  friends. I never was afraid of work. Yet you are a very good
• 1:45:30
  man, said James. I wish I may ever be like you. I
• 1:45:35
  don't often speak of myself, said John. But as you are going away
• 1:45:40
  from us, out into the world to shift for yourself, I'll tell you
• 1:45:44
  just how I look on these things. I was just as old as Joseph
• 1:45:46
  when my father and mother died of the fever within ten days of each other,
• 1:45:50
  and left me and my cripple sister Nellie alone in the world, without
• 1:45:54
  a relation that we could look to for help. I was a farmer's boy,
• 1:45:59
  not earning enough to keep myself, much less both of us and she
• 1:46:01
  must have gone to the workhouse. But for our mistress Nellie calls her her
• 1:46:05
  angel, and she has good right to do so. She went and hired
• 1:46:10
  a room for her with old widow Mallet, and she gave her knitting and
• 1:46:14
  needlework when she was able to do it, and when she was ill,
• 1:46:16
  she sent her dinners and many nice comfortable things, and was like a mother
• 1:46:20
  to her. Then the master he took me into the stable under Old Norman,
• 1:46:25
  the coachman. That was. Then I had my food at the house,
• 1:46:29
  and my bed in the loft, and a suit of clothes, and
• 1:46:30
  three shillings a week, so that I could help Nellie. Then there was
• 1:46:34
  Norman. He might have turned round and said, at his age he could
• 1:46:39
  not be troubled with a raw boy from the plow tail. But he was
• 1:46:42
  like a father to me, and took no end of pains with me.
• 1:46:45
  When the old man died, some years after I stepped into his place.
• 1:46:48
  And now, of course I have top wages and can lay by for a
• 1:46:51
  rainy day or a sunny day, as it may happen, and Nellie as
• 1:46:55
  happy as a bird. So you see, James, I am not the
• 1:46:59
  man that should turn up his nose and a little boy and vex a good
• 1:47:01
  kind master. No, no, I shall miss you very much, James,
• 1:47:06
  but we shall pull through. And there's nothing like doing a kindness when
• 1:47:10
  tis put in your way. And I am glad I can do it.
• 1:47:15
  Then, said James. You don't hold without saying everybody look after himself and
• 1:47:19
  take care of number one. No, indeed, said John, where should
• 1:47:25
  I and Nelly have been if Master and mistress and old Norman had only taken
• 1:47:29
  care of number one? Why she in the workhouse and I hoeing turnips?
• 1:47:32
  Where would black beauty and ginger have been if you had only thought of number
• 1:47:36
  one? Why roasted to death? No, Jim, No, that is
• 1:47:41
  a selfish, heathenish saying. Whoever uses it, and any man who thinks
• 1:47:45
  he has nothing to do but take care of number one, why it's a
• 1:47:47
  pity. But what he had been drowned like a puppy or a kitten before
• 1:47:50
  he got his eyes open. That's what I think, said John, with
• 1:47:55
  a very decided jerk of his head. James laughed at this, but there
• 1:48:00
  was a thickness in his voice when he said, you have been my best
• 1:48:03
  friend except my mother. I hope you won't forget me. No, lad,
• 1:48:08
  no, said John. And if ever I can do you a good
• 1:48:12
  turn, I hope you won't forget me. The next day Joe came to
• 1:48:16
  the stables to learn all he could before James left. He learned to sweep
• 1:48:20
  the stable to bring in the straw and hay. He began to clean the
• 1:48:25
  harness and help to wash the carriage. As he was quite too short to
• 1:48:29
  do anything in the way of grooming ginger in me, James taught him upon
• 1:48:32
  Merry Leggs, for he was to have full charge of him under John.
• 1:48:36
  He was a nice, little bright fellow and always came whistling to his work.
• 1:48:42
  Mery Legs was a good deal put out at being mauled about, as
• 1:48:45
  he said, by a boy who knew nothing, but toward the end of
• 1:48:47
  the second week he told me confidentially that he thought the boy would turn out
• 1:48:51
  well. At last, the day came when James had to leave us.
• 1:48:57
  Cheerful as he always was, he looked quite down hearted that morning. You
• 1:49:01
  see, he said to John, I am leaving a great deal behind my
• 1:49:05
  mother and Betsy and you, and a good master and mistress, and then
• 1:49:10
  the horses and my old Merrylegs. At the new place. There will not
• 1:49:14
  be a soul that I shall know if it were not that I shall get
• 1:49:17
  a higher place and be able to help my mother better. I don't think
• 1:49:20
  I should have made up my mind to it. It is a real pinch,
• 1:49:24
  John, eh, James, lad, so it is, But I
• 1:49:27
  should not think much of you if you could leave your home for the first
• 1:49:30
  time and not feel it. Cheer up. You'll make friends there, and
• 1:49:33
  if you get on well, as I am sure you will, it will
• 1:49:36
  be a fine thing for your mother, and she will be proud enough that
• 1:49:40
  you have got into such a good place as that. So John cheered him
• 1:49:44
  up, but everyone was sorry to lose James. As for Merrylegs, he
• 1:49:48
  pined after him for several days and went quite off his appetite. So John
• 1:49:54
  took him out several mornings with a leading rein when he exercised me and trotting
• 1:49:58
  and galloping by myself, I'd got up the little fellow's spirits again, and
• 1:50:01
  he was soon all right. Joe's father would often come in and give a
• 1:50:06
  little help, as he understood the work, and Joe took a great deal
• 1:50:10
  of pains to learn, and John was quite encouraged about him. End of
• 1:50:16
  Chapter seventeen. Chapter eighteen, Going for the doctor. One night, a
• 1:50:24
  few days after James had left, I had eaten my hay and was lying
• 1:50:29
  down in my straw, fast asleep, when I was suddenly roused by the
• 1:50:33
  stable bell ringing very loud. I heard the door of John's house open,
• 1:50:40
  and his feet running up to the hall. He was back again in no
• 1:50:45
  time. He unlocked the stable door and came in, calling out, wake
• 1:50:49
  up, beauty. You must go well now if you ever did. And
• 1:50:54
  almost before I could think he had got the saddle on my back and the
• 1:50:59
  bridle on my head. He just ran around for his coat, and then
• 1:51:02
  took me at a quick trot up to the hall door. The squire stood
• 1:51:06
  there with a lamp in his hand. Now, John, he said,
• 1:51:12
  ride for your life, that is, for your mistress's life. There is
• 1:51:15
  not a moment to lose. Give this note to doctor White, give your
• 1:51:18
  horse a rest at the inn, and be back as soon as you can.
• 1:51:24
  John said, yes, sir, and was on my back in a
• 1:51:27
  minute. The gardener who lived at the lodge had heard the bell ring and
• 1:51:31
  was ready with the gate open. And away we went through the park,
• 1:51:34
  and through the village and down the hill till we came to the toll gate.
• 1:51:40
  John called very loud and thumped upon the door. The man was soon
• 1:51:44
  out and flung open the gate. Now, said John, do you keep
• 1:51:48
  the gate open for the doctor. Here's the money, and off he went
• 1:51:51
  again. There was before us a long piece of level road by the river
• 1:51:57
  side. John said to me, now, beauty, do your best,
• 1:52:02
  and so I did. I wanted no whip nor spur, and for two
• 1:52:06
  miles I galloped as fast as I could lay my feet to the ground.
• 1:52:11
  I don't believe that my old grandfather, who won the race at new Market,
• 1:52:15
  could have gone faster. When we came to the bridge, John pulled
• 1:52:17
  me up a little and patted my neck. Well done, beauty, good
• 1:52:23
  old fellow. He said. He would have let me go slower, but
• 1:52:27
  my spirit was up and I was off again as fast as before, the
• 1:52:30
  air was frosty, the moon was bright. It was very pleasant. We
• 1:52:34
  came through a village, then through a dark wood, then up hill,
• 1:52:39
  then downhill, till after eight miles run we came to the town, through
• 1:52:44
  the streets and into the market place. It was all quite still except the
• 1:52:48
  clatter of my feet on the stones. Everybody was asleep. The church clock
• 1:52:55
  struck three as we drew up at Doctor White's door. John the bell twice,
• 1:53:00
  then knocked at the door like thunder. A window was thrown up,
• 1:53:04
  and Doctor White, in his night cap, put his head out and said,
• 1:53:09
  what do you want? Missus? Gordon is very ill, sir.
• 1:53:14
  Master wants you to go at once. He thinks she will die if you
• 1:53:17
  cannot get there. Here is a note. Wait, he said, I
• 1:53:23
  will come. He shut the window and was soon at the door. The
• 1:53:27
  worst of it is, he said that my horse has been out all day
• 1:53:30
  and is quite done up. My son has just been sent for and he
• 1:53:33
  has taken the other. What is to be done? Can I have your
• 1:53:38
  horse? He has come at a gallop nearly all the way, sir,
• 1:53:44
  and I was to give him a rest here, but I think my master
• 1:53:46
  would not be against it if you think fit, sir. All right,
• 1:53:51
  he said, I will soon be ready. John stood by me and stroked
• 1:53:57
  my neck. I was very hot. The doctor came out with his riding
• 1:54:01
  whip. You need not take that, sir, said John. Black Beauty
• 1:54:06
  will go till he drops. Take care of him, sir, if you
• 1:54:10
  can. I should not like any harm to come to him. No,
• 1:54:15
  no, John, said the doctor. I hope not. And in a
• 1:54:18
  minute we had left John far behind. I will not tell about our way
• 1:54:23
  back. The doctor was a heavier man than John, and not so good
• 1:54:27
  a rider. However, I did my very best. The man at the
• 1:54:30
  toll gate had it open. When we came to the hill. The doctor
• 1:54:34
  drew me up. Now, my good fellow, he said, take some
• 1:54:39
  breath. I was glad he did, for I was nearly spent. But
• 1:54:43
  that breathing helped me on, and soon we were in the park. Joe
• 1:54:46
  was at the lodge gate. My master was at the hall door, for
• 1:54:50
  he had heard us coming. He spoke not a word. The doctor went
• 1:54:55
  into the house with him, and Joe led me to the stable. I
• 1:54:59
  was glad to to get home. My legs shook under me and I could
• 1:55:02
  only stand and pant. I had not a dry hair on my body.
• 1:55:08
  The water ran down my legs and I steamed all over. Joe used to
• 1:55:12
  say, like a pot on the fire. Poor Joe. He was young
• 1:55:15
  and small, and as yet he knew very little, and his father,
• 1:55:19
  who would have helped him, had been sent to the next village. But
• 1:55:23
  I am sure he did the very best he knew. He rubbed my legs
• 1:55:27
  in my chest, but he did not put my warm cloth on me.
• 1:55:30
  He thought I was so hot I should not like it. Then he gave
• 1:55:33
  me a pailful of water to drink. It was cold and very good,
• 1:55:38
  and I drank it all. Then he gave me some hay and some corn,
• 1:55:42
  and thinking he had done right, he went away. Soon I began
• 1:55:45
  to shake and tremble and turned deadly cold. My legs ached, my loins
• 1:55:50
  ached, and my chest ached, and I felt sore all over. Oh
• 1:55:55
  how I wished for my warm, thick cloth. As I stood and trembled.
• 1:55:59
  I wished for John, but he had eight miles to walk. So
• 1:56:02
  I lay down in my straw and tried to go to sleep. After a
• 1:56:06
  long while, I heard John at the door. I gave a low moan
• 1:56:10
  for I was in great pain. He was at my side in a moment,
• 1:56:14
  stooping down by me. I could not tell him how I felt,
• 1:56:17
  but he seemed to know it all. He covered me up with two or
• 1:56:19
  three warm cloths and then ran to the house for some hot water. He
• 1:56:25
  made me some warm gruel, which I drank. Then I think I went
• 1:56:28
  to sleep. John seemed to be very much put out. I heard him
• 1:56:32
  say to himself over and over again, stupid boy, stupid boy, no
• 1:56:39
  cloth put on. And I dare say the water was cold too. Boys
• 1:56:43
  are no good. But Joe was a good boy. After all. I
• 1:56:47
  was now very ill. A strong inflammation had attacked my lungs, and I
• 1:56:51
  could not draw my breath without pain. John nursed me night and day.
• 1:56:57
  He would get up two or three times in the night to come to me.
• 1:57:00
  My master too often came to see me, my poor beauty. He
• 1:57:06
  said, one day, my good horse, you saved your mistress's life.
• 1:57:11
  Beauty, Yes, you saved your life. I was very glad to hear
• 1:57:15
  that, for it seemed the doctor had said if we had been a little
• 1:57:18
  longer, it would have been too late. John told my master he never
• 1:57:23
  saw a horse go so fast in his life. It seemed as if the
• 1:57:28
  horse knew what was the matter. Of course I did, though John thought
• 1:57:31
  not. At least I knew as much as this, that John and I
• 1:57:35
  must go at the top of our speed, and that it was for the
• 1:57:39
  sake of the mistress. End of Chapter eighteen, Chapter nineteen, only ignorance.
• 1:57:51
  I do not know how long I was ill. Mister Bond, the
• 1:57:56
  horse doctor, came every day. One day he bled me. John held
• 1:58:00
  the pail for the blood. I felt very faint after it and thought I
• 1:58:03
  should die, and I believed they all thought so too. Ginger and Mary
• 1:58:10
  Legg's had been moved into the other stables so that I might be quiet.
• 1:58:14
  For the fever made me very quick of hearing. Any little noise seemed quite
• 1:58:17
  loud, and I could tell every one's footsteps going to and from the house.
• 1:58:25
  I knew all that was going on. One night John had to give
• 1:58:29
  me a draft. Thomas Green came in to help him. After I had
• 1:58:33
  taken it and John had made me as comfortable as he could, he said
• 1:58:38
  he should stay half an hour to see how the medicine settled. Thomas said
• 1:58:43
  he would stay with him, so they went and sat down on a bench
• 1:58:46
  that had been brought into Mary Legg's stall, and put down the lantern at
• 1:58:50
  their feet that I might not be disturbed with the light. For a while,
• 1:58:57
  both men sat silent. Then Tom said, in a low voice,
• 1:59:02
  I wish John, you'd say a bit of a kind word to Joe.
• 1:59:08
  The boy is quite broken hearted. He can't eat his meals, and he
• 1:59:11
  can't smile. He says he now knows it was all his fault, though
• 1:59:15
  he is sure he did the best in you. And he says if beauty
• 1:59:18
  dies, no one will ever speak to him again. It goes to my
• 1:59:23
  heart to hear him. I think you might give him just a word.
• 1:59:27
  He is not a bad boy. After a shirt pause, John said slowly,
• 1:59:31
  you must not be too hard upon me. Tom. I know he
• 1:59:34
  meant no harm. I never said he did. I know he is not
• 1:59:38
  a bad boy. But you see, I am sore myself. That horse
• 1:59:44
  is the pride of my heart. To say nothing of his being such a
• 1:59:47
  favorite with the Master and Mistress, and to think that his life may be
• 1:59:51
  flung away in this manner is more than I can bear. But if you
• 1:59:56
  think I am hard on the boy, I will try to give him a
• 1:59:59
  good word to that is, I mean, if beauty is better. Well,
• 2:00:05
  John, thank you. I knew you did not wish to be too
• 2:00:09
  hard, and I am glad you see it was only ignorance. John's voice
• 2:00:15
  almost startled me as he answered, only ignorance, Only ignorance. How can
• 2:00:21
  you talk about only ignorance? Don't you know that it is the worst thing
• 2:00:26
  in the world next to wickedness, and which does the most mischief? Heaven
• 2:00:30
  only knows If people can say, oh, I did not know, I
• 2:00:36
  did not mean any harm, they think it is all right. I suppose
• 2:00:42
  Martha Malwash did not mean to kill that baby when she dosed it with Dolby
• 2:00:45
  and soothing syrups. But she did kill it and was tried for manslaughter.
• 2:00:51
  I'd serve her right too, said Tom. A woman should not undertake to
• 2:00:56
  nurse a tender little child without knowing what is good and what is bad for
• 2:01:00
  it. Bill's darkey continued, John did not mean to frighten his brother into
• 2:01:05
  fits when he dressed up like a ghost and ran after him in the moonlight.
• 2:01:10
  But he did. And that bright, handsome little fellow that might have
• 2:01:14
  been the pride of any mother's heart is just no better than an idiot,
• 2:01:17
  and never will be if he lives to be eighty years old. You are
• 2:01:23
  a good deal cut up yourselves, Tom. Two weeks ago, when those
• 2:01:27
  young ladies left your hothouse door open with a frosty east wind blowing right in,
• 2:01:31
  you said it killed a good many of your plants. A good many,
• 2:01:38
  said Tom. There was not one of the tender cuttings that was not
• 2:01:41
  nipped off. I shall have to strike all over again, and the worst
• 2:01:45
  of it is that I don't know where to get the fresh ones. I
• 2:01:48
  was nearly mad when I came in and saw what was done. And yet
• 2:01:54
  said John, I am sure the young ladies did not mean it. It
• 2:01:59
  was only ignorant. Yes, I heard no more of this conversation, for
• 2:02:03
  the medicine did well and sent me to sleep, and in the morning I
• 2:02:08
  felt much better. But I often thought of John's words when I came to
• 2:02:13
  know more of the world. End of Chapter nineteen, Chapter twenty Joe Green.
• 2:02:26
  Joe Green went on very well. He learned quickly, and was so
• 2:02:30
  attentive and careful that John began to trust him in many things. But as
• 2:02:35
  I have said, he was small of his age, and it was seldom
• 2:02:40
  that he was allowed to exercise either ginger or meat. But it so happened
• 2:02:45
  one morning that John was out with Justice in the luggage cart, and the
• 2:02:49
  master wanted a note to be taken immediately to a gentleman's house about three miles
• 2:02:56
  distant, and sent his orders for Joe to say me and take it,
• 2:03:00
  adding the caution that he was to ride steadily. The note was delivered,
• 2:03:06
  and we were quietly returning when we came to the brickfield. Here we saw
• 2:03:13
  a cart heavily laden with bricks. The wheels had stuck fast in the stiff
• 2:03:17
  mud of some deep ruts, and the carter was shouting and flogging the two
• 2:03:23
  horses unmercifully. Joe pulled up. It was a sad sight. There were
• 2:03:30
  two horses straining and struggling with all their might to drag the cart out,
• 2:03:35
  but they could not move it. The sweat streamed from their legs and flanks,
• 2:03:41
  their sides heaved, and every muscle was strained, while the man fiercely
• 2:03:47
  pulling at the head of the four horse, swore and lashed most brutally.
• 2:03:54
  Hold hard, said Joe, don't go on flogging the horses like that.
• 2:03:59
  The wheels are so stuck that they cannot move the cart. The man took
• 2:04:03
  no heed, but went on lashing stop, pray, stop, said Joe,
• 2:04:10
  I'll help you to lighten the cart. They can't move it. Now
• 2:04:15
  mind your own business, you impudent young rascal, and I'll mind mine.
• 2:04:20
  The man was in a towering passion and the worse for drink, and laid
• 2:04:26
  on the whip again. Joe turned my head, and the next moment we
• 2:04:30
  were going at a round gallop toward the house of the master brickmaker. I
• 2:04:34
  cannot say if John would have approved of our pace, but Joe and I
• 2:04:40
  were both of one mind and so angry that we could not have gone slower.
• 2:04:46
  The house stood close by the roadside. Joe knocked at the door and
• 2:04:51
  shouted, halloo, is mister Clay at home. The door was opened,
• 2:04:56
  and mister Clay himself came out. Hello, young man. You seem in
• 2:05:01
  a hurry. Any orders from the squire this morning? No, mister Clay,
• 2:05:06
  but there's a fellow in your brick yard flogging two horses to death.
• 2:05:12
  I told him to stop, and he wouldn't. I said I'd help him
• 2:05:15
  to lighten the cart, and he wouldn't, so I have come to tell
• 2:05:19
  you. Pray, sir, go. Joe's voice shook with excitement. Thank
• 2:05:26
  ye, my lad, said the man, running in for his hat,
• 2:05:30
  then pausing for a moment, Will you give evidence of what you saw if
• 2:05:34
  I should bring the fellow up before a magistrate? That I will, said
• 2:05:40
  Joe, and glad too. The man was gone, and we were away
• 2:05:44
  on our way home at a smart trot. Why what's the matter with you,
• 2:05:48
  Joe? You look angry all over, said John, as the boy
• 2:05:53
  flung himself from the saddle. I am angry all over, I can tell
• 2:05:58
  you, said the boy, and then, in hurried, excited words,
• 2:06:02
  he told all that had happened. Joe was usually such a quiet, gentle
• 2:06:08
  little fellow that it was wonderful to see him so roused. Right, Joe,
• 2:06:14
  you did right, my boy. Whether the fellow gets a summons or
• 2:06:16
  not, many folks would have ridden by and said it was not their business
• 2:06:24
  to interfere. Now I say that, with cruelty and oppression, it is
• 2:06:29
  everybody's business to interfere when they see it. You did right, my boy.
• 2:06:35
  Joe was quite calm by this time, and proud that John approved of
• 2:06:40
  him, and cleaned out my feet and rubbed me down with a firmer hand
• 2:06:45
  than usual. They were just going home to dinner when the footman came down
• 2:06:49
  to the stable to say that Joe was wanted directly in Master's private room.
• 2:06:56
  There was a man brought up for ill using horses, and Joe's evidence was
• 2:07:00
  wanted. The boy flushed up to his forehead and his eyes sparkled. They
• 2:07:08
  shall have it, said, he put yourself a bit straight, said John.
• 2:07:14
  Joe gave a pull at his necktie and a twitch at his jacket,
• 2:07:17
  and was off in a moment. Our Master, being one of the county
• 2:07:21
  magistrates, cases were often brought to him to settle or say what should be
• 2:07:27
  done. In the stable. We heard no more for some time, as
• 2:07:31
  it was the men's dinner hour. But when Joe came next into the stable,
• 2:07:36
  I saw he was in high spirits. He gave me a good natured
• 2:07:42
  slap and said, we won't see such things done, will we, old
• 2:07:46
  fellow. We heard afterward that he had given his evidence so clearly, and
• 2:07:53
  the horses were in such an exhausted state, bearing marks of such brutal usage,
• 2:07:59
  that the Carter was committed to take his trial and might possibly be sentenced
• 2:08:05
  to two or three months in prison. It was wonderful what a change had
• 2:08:11
  come over Joe. John laughed and said he had grown an inch in that
• 2:08:16
  week, and I believed he had. He was just as kind and gentle
• 2:08:20
  as before, but there was more purpose and determination in all that he did,
• 2:08:26
  as if he had jumped at once from a boy into a man.
• 2:08:33
  End of Chapter twenty Chapter twenty one, the parting. I had now lived
• 2:08:45
  in this happy place three years, but sad changes were about to come over
• 2:08:50
  us. We heard from time to time that our mistress was ill. The
• 2:08:54
  doctor was often at the house, and the Master looked grave and anxious.
• 2:09:00
  Then we heard that she must leave her home at once and go to a
• 2:09:03
  warm country for two or three years. The news fell upon the household like
• 2:09:09
  the tolling of a death bell. Everybody was sorry, but the Master began
• 2:09:16
  directly to make arrangements for breaking up his establishment and leaving England. We used
• 2:09:22
  to hear it talked about in our stable. Indeed, nothing else was talked
• 2:09:26
  about. John went about his work silent and sad, and Joe scarcely whistled.
• 2:09:33
  There was a great deal of coming and going. Ginger and I had
• 2:09:37
  full work. The first of the party who went were miss Jesse and Flora
• 2:09:43
  with their governess. They came to bid us good bye. They hugged poor
• 2:09:48
  Merry Legs like an old friend, and so indeed he was. Then we
• 2:09:54
  heard what had been arranged for us. Master had sold Ginger and me to
• 2:09:58
  his old friend, the Earl of w for he thought we should have a
• 2:10:03
  good place there. Maryleggs he had given to the vicar, who was wanting
• 2:10:07
  a pony from Missus Bloomfield. But it was on the condition that he should
• 2:10:13
  never be sold, and when he was past work, that he should be
• 2:10:18
  shot and buried. Joe was engaged to take care of him and to help
• 2:10:22
  in the house. So I thought that Mary Leggs was well off. John
• 2:10:28
  had the offer of several good places, but he said he should wait a
• 2:10:31
  little and look round. The evening before they left, the Master came into
• 2:10:37
  the stable to give some directions and to give his horses the last pat He
• 2:10:43
  seemed very low spirited. I knew that by his voice. I believe we
• 2:10:48
  horses can tell more by the voice than many men can. Have you decided
• 2:10:54
  what to do, John, He said, I find you have not accepted
• 2:10:58
  any of these offers. No, sir, I have made up my mind
• 2:11:03
  that if I could get a situation with some first rate colt breaker and horse
• 2:11:07
  trainer, that it would be the right thing for me. Many young animals
• 2:11:13
  are frightened and spoiled by the wrong treatment, which need not be if the
• 2:11:18
  right man took them in hand. I always get on well with horses,
• 2:11:22
  and if I could help some of them to a fair start, I should
• 2:11:26
  feel as if I were doing some good. What do you think of it,
• 2:11:31
  sir, I don't know a man anywhere, said Master, that I
• 2:11:35
  should think so suitable for it as yourself. You understand horses, and somehow
• 2:11:41
  they understand you, and in time you might set up for yourself. I
• 2:11:46
  think you could not do better. If in any way I can help you
• 2:11:50
  write to me. I shall speak to my agent in London and leave your
• 2:11:54
  character with him. Master gave John the name, and and then he thanked
• 2:12:01
  him for his long and faithful service. But that was too much for John.
• 2:12:07
  Pray don't, sir, I can't bear it. You and my dear
• 2:12:09
  mistress have done so much for me that I could never repay it, but
• 2:12:15
  we shall never forget you, sir, and please God, we may some
• 2:12:18
  day see Mistress back again, and like herself, we must keep up hope,
• 2:12:22
  sir. Master gave John his hand, but he did not speak,
• 2:12:28
  and they both left the stable. The last sad day had come. The
• 2:12:33
  footman and the heavy luggage had gone off the day before, and there was
• 2:12:37
  only Master and Mistress and her maid. Ginger and I brought the carriage up
• 2:12:43
  to the hall door for the last time. The servants brought out cushions and
• 2:12:48
  rugs and many other things, and when all were arranged, Master came down
• 2:12:54
  the steps, carrying the mistress in his arms. I was on the side
• 2:12:58
  next the house and could see all that went on. He placed her carefully
• 2:13:03
  in the carriage, while the house servant stood round, crying good bye again.
• 2:13:09
  He said, we shall not forget any of you, and he got
• 2:13:13
  in drive on John Joe jumped up and we trotted slowly through the park and
• 2:13:20
  through the village, where the people were standing at their doors to have a
• 2:13:22
  last look and to say God bless them. When we reached the railway station,
• 2:13:28
  I think Mistress walked from the carriage to the waiting room I heard her
• 2:13:33
  say in her own sweet voice, good bye, John, God bless you.
• 2:13:39
  I felt the rain twitch, but John made no answer, perhaps he
• 2:13:43
  could not speak. As soon as Joe had taken the things out of the
• 2:13:48
  carriage, John called him to stand by the horses while he went on the
• 2:13:52
  platform. Poor Joe. He stood close up to our heads to hide his
• 2:13:58
  tears. Very soon the train came puffing up into the station. Then two
• 2:14:05
  or three minutes and the doors were slammed to The guard whistled, and the
• 2:14:09
  train glided away, leaving behind it only clouds of white smoke and some very
• 2:14:15
  heavy hearts. When it was quite out of sight, John came back.
• 2:14:20
  We shall never see her again, he said never. He took the reins,
• 2:14:26
  mounted the box, and with Joe drove slowly home. But it was
• 2:14:31
  not our home now. End of Chapter twenty one. Chapter twenty two,
• 2:14:41
  Earlshall. The next morning, after breakfast, Joe put Merrylegs into the Mistress's
• 2:14:48
  low chaise to take him to the vicarage. He came first and said good
• 2:14:52
  bye to us, and Merylegs neighed to us from the yard. Then John
• 2:14:58
  put the saddle one ginger and the leading rein on me and rode us across
• 2:15:03
  the country about fifteen miles to Earlshall Park, where the Earl of w lived.
• 2:15:09
  There was a very fine house and a great deal of stabling. We
• 2:15:13
  went into the yard through a stone gateway and John asked for mister Yorke.
• 2:15:18
  It was some time before he came. He was a fine looking middle aged
• 2:15:22
  man, and his voice said at once that he expected to be obeyed.
• 2:15:28
  He was very friendly and polite to John, and after giving us a slight
• 2:15:31
  look, he called a groom to take us to our boxes and invited John
• 2:15:35
  to take some refreshment. We were taken to a light airy stable and placed
• 2:15:41
  in boxes adjoining each other, where we were rubbed down and fed. In
• 2:15:46
  about half an hour, John and mister Yorke, who was to be our
• 2:15:50
  new coachman, came in to see us. Now, mister Manley, he
• 2:15:56
  said, after carefully looking at us both, I can see no fault in
• 2:16:01
  these horses. But we all know that horses have their peculiarities as well as
• 2:16:05
  men, and that sometimes they need different treatment. I should like to know
• 2:16:09
  if there is anything particular in either of these that you would like to mention.
• 2:16:16
  Well, said John, I don't believe there is a better pair of
• 2:16:20
  horses in the country, and right grieved I am to part with them.
• 2:16:24
  But they are not alike. The black one is the most perfect temper I
• 2:16:30
  ever knew. I suppose he has never known a hard word or a blow
• 2:16:33
  since he was fold, and all his pleasure seems to be to do what
• 2:16:37
  you wish. But the chestnut I fancy must have had bad treatment. We
• 2:16:43
  heard as much from the dealer. She came to us snappish and suspicious,
• 2:16:48
  but when she found what sort of place ours was, it all went off
• 2:16:50
  by degrees. For three years, I have never seen the smallest sign of
• 2:16:54
  temper. And if she is well treated, there is not a better,
• 2:16:58
  more willing Anna than she is. But she is naturally a more irritable constitution
• 2:17:05
  than the black horse. Flies tease her more. Anything wrong in the harness
• 2:17:09
  frets her more. And if she were ill used or unfairly treated, she
• 2:17:13
  would not be unlikely to give tit for tat. You know that many high
• 2:17:16
  mettled horses will do so, of course, said York. I quite understand,
• 2:17:24
  But you know it is not easy in stables like these to have all
• 2:17:26
  the grooms just what they should be I do my best, and there I
• 2:17:31
  must leave it. I'll remember what you have said about the mare. They
• 2:17:37
  were going out of the stable when John stopped and said, I had better
• 2:17:41
  mention that we have never used the check rein with either of them. The
• 2:17:46
  black horse never had one on, and the dealer said it was the gag
• 2:17:48
  bit that spoiled the other's temper. Well, said York, if they come
• 2:17:54
  here, they must wear the check rein. I prefer a loose rein myself,
• 2:17:58
  and his Lordship is always very reasonable about horses. But my lady,
• 2:18:03
  that's another thing. She will have style, and if her carriage horses are
• 2:18:07
  not reined up tight, she wouldn't look at them. I always stand out
• 2:18:11
  against the gag bit and shall do so, but it must be tight up
• 2:18:16
  when my lady rides. I am sorry for it, very sorry, said
• 2:18:22
  John, but I must go now or I shall lose the train. He
• 2:18:26
  came round to each of us to pat and speak to us for the last
• 2:18:31
  time. His voice sounded very sad. I held my face close to him.
• 2:18:37
  That was all I could do to say good bye, and then he
• 2:18:39
  was gone, and I have never seen him since. The Next day,
• 2:18:46
  Lord w came to look at us. He seemed pleased with our appearance.
• 2:18:52
  I have great confidence in these horses, he said, from the character my
• 2:18:56
  friend mister Gordon has given me of them. Of course, they are not
• 2:19:00
  match in color, but my idea is that they will do very well for
• 2:19:03
  the carriage. While we are in the country. Before we go to London,
• 2:19:07
  I must try to match Barren, the black horse I believe is perfect
• 2:19:13
  for riding. Yorke then told him what John had said about us. Well,
• 2:19:18
  said he, you must keep an eye to the mare and put the
• 2:19:22
  check rein easy. I dare say they will do very well with a little
• 2:19:26
  humoring at first. I'll mention it to your lady. In the afternoon we
• 2:19:31
  were harnessed and put in the carriage, and as the stable clock struck three,
• 2:19:35
  we were led round to the front of the house. It was all
• 2:19:39
  very grand, and three or four times as large as the old house at
• 2:19:43
  Bertwick, but not half so pleasant, if a horse may have an opinion.
• 2:19:50
  Two footmen were standing ready, dressed in drab livery, with scarlet breeches
• 2:19:54
  and white stockings. Presently we heard the rustling sound of silklk as my lady
• 2:20:00
  came down the flight of stone steps. She stepped round to look at us.
• 2:20:05
  She was a tall, proud looking woman and did not seem pleased about
• 2:20:09
  something. But she said nothing and got into the carriage. This was the
• 2:20:15
  first time of wearing a check rein, and I must say, though it
• 2:20:18
  certainly was a nuisance not to be able to get my head down now and
• 2:20:22
  then, it did not pull my head higher than I was accustomed to carry
• 2:20:26
  it. I felt anxious about Ginger, but she seemed to be quiet and
• 2:20:31
  content. The next day, at three o'clock we were again at the door,
• 2:20:37
  and the footmen, as before, we heard the silk dress rustle,
• 2:20:41
  and the lady came down the steps, and in an imperious voice, she
• 2:20:46
  said, York, you must put those horses heads higher. They are not
• 2:20:50
  fit to be seen. York got down and said, very respectfully. I
• 2:20:56
  beg your pardon, my lady, but these horses have not been rained up
• 2:21:01
  for three years. And my lord said it would be safer to bring them
• 2:21:03
  to it by degrees. But if your ladyship pleases, I can take them
• 2:21:09
  up a little more. Do so, she said, Yorke came round to
• 2:21:16
  our heads and shortened the rain himself one hole. I think every little makes
• 2:21:22
  a difference, be it for better or worse. And that day we had
• 2:21:24
  a steep hill to go up. Then I began to understand what I had
• 2:21:30
  heard of. Of course, I wanted to put my head forward and take
• 2:21:33
  the carriage up with a will, as we had been used to do.
• 2:21:37
  But no, I had to pull with my head up now, and that
• 2:21:41
  took all a spirit out of me, and the strain came on my back
• 2:21:45
  and legs. When we came in, Ginger said, now you see what
• 2:21:50
  it is like. But this is not bad, and if it does not
• 2:21:52
  get much worse than this, I shall say nothing about it. For we
• 2:21:56
  are very well treated here. But if they strained me up tight, why
• 2:22:01
  let em look out. I can't bear it, and I won't day by
• 2:22:07
  day, whole by whole, our bearing reins were shortened, and instead of
• 2:22:11
  looking forward with pleasure to having my harness put on as I used to do,
• 2:22:16
  I began to dread it. Ginger too, seemed restless, though she
• 2:22:20
  said very little. At last, I thought the worst was over. For
• 2:22:26
  several days there was no more shortening, and I determined to make the best
• 2:22:30
  of it and do my duty. Though it was now a constant harass instead
• 2:22:33
  of a pleasure. But the worst was not come end of chapter twenty two.
• 2:22:43
  Chapter twenty three, A strike for Liberty. One day my lady came
• 2:22:50
  down later than usual, and the silk rustled more than ever. Drive to
• 2:22:56
  the Duchess of bees, she said, And then, after a pause,
• 2:23:01
  are you never going to get those horses heads up? York? Raise them
• 2:23:05
  at once, and let us have no more of this humoring and nonsense.
• 2:23:09
  Yorke came to me first, while the groom stood at Ginger's head. He
• 2:23:15
  drew my head back and fixed the ring so tight that it was almost intolerable.
• 2:23:22
  Then he went to Ginger, who was impatiently jerking her head up and
• 2:23:26
  down against the bit as was her way. Now she had a good idea
• 2:23:31
  of what was coming, and the moment York took the rein off the tarret
• 2:23:35
  in order to shorten it, she took her opportunity and reared up suddenly,
• 2:23:41
  so that York had his nose roughly hit and his hat knocked off. The
• 2:23:46
  groom was nearly thrown off his legs at once. They both flew to her
• 2:23:52
  head, but she was a match for them and went on plunging rearing and
• 2:23:58
  kicking in a most desker manner. At last she kicked right over the carriage
• 2:24:03
  pole and fell down after giving me a severe blow on mine ear quarter.
• 2:24:09
  There's no knowing what further mischief she might have done had not York promptly sat
• 2:24:15
  himself down flat on her head to prevent her struggling, at the same time
• 2:24:20
  calling out, unbuckle the black horse, run for the winch and unscrew the
• 2:24:26
  carriage pole. Cut the trace here, somebody, if you can't unhitch it.
• 2:24:33
  One of the footmen ran for the winch, and another brought a knife
• 2:24:37
  from the house. The groom soon set me free from Ginger and the carriage
• 2:24:43
  and led me to my box. He just turned me in as I was,
• 2:24:48
  and ran back to York. I was much excited by what happened,
• 2:24:52
  and if I had ever been used to kick or rear, I am sure
• 2:24:56
  I would have done it then, But I never, and there I stood,
• 2:25:01
  angry, sore in my leg and my head still strained up to the
• 2:25:07
  tarret on the saddle, and no power to get it down. I was
• 2:25:13
  very miserable and felt much inclined to kick the first person who came near me
• 2:25:18
  before long. However, Ginger was let in by two grooms a good deal
• 2:25:22
  knocked about and bruised. Yorke came in with her and gave his orders,
• 2:25:28
  and then came to look at me. In a moment, he let down
• 2:25:33
  my head confound these check reins. He said to himself, I thought we
• 2:25:39
  should have some mischief. Soon Master will be sorely vexed. But there if
• 2:25:45
  a woman's husband can't rule her, of course a servant can't, so I
• 2:25:50
  wash my hands of it. And if she can't get to the Duchess's garden
• 2:25:54
  party, I can't help it. Yorke did not say this before the men.
• 2:26:00
  He always spoke respectfully when they were by. Now he felt me all
• 2:26:05
  over, and soon found the place above my hawk where I'd been kicked.
• 2:26:09
  It was swelled and painful. He ordered it to be sponged with hot water,
• 2:26:13
  and then some lotion was put on. Lord w was much put out
• 2:26:20
  when he learned what had happened. He blamed Yorke for giving way to his
• 2:26:24
  mistress, to which he replied that in future he would prefer to receive his
• 2:26:28
  orders only from his lordship. But I think nothing came of it, for
• 2:26:35
  things went on the same as before. I thought Yorke might have stood up
• 2:26:39
  better for his horses, but perhaps I'm no judge. Ginger was never put
• 2:26:46
  into the carriage again, but when she was well of her bruises, one
• 2:26:52
  of Lord W's younger sons said he should like to have her. He was
• 2:26:56
  sure he could make her a good hunter, as or me. I was
• 2:27:01
  obliged still to go in the carriage and had a fresh partner called Nax.
• 2:27:05
  He had always been used to the tight reing. I asked him how it
• 2:27:11
  was he bore it well, he said, I bear it because I must.
• 2:27:18
  But it is shortening my life, and it will shorten yours too if
• 2:27:22
  you have to stick to it. Do you think I said that our masters
• 2:27:28
  know how bad it is for us. I can't say, he replied,
• 2:27:33
  but the dealers and the horse doctors know it very well. I was at
• 2:27:37
  a dealer's once who was training me and another horse to go as a pair.
• 2:27:41
  He was getting our heads up, as he said, a little higher
• 2:27:46
  and a little higher every day. A gentleman who was there asked him why
• 2:27:50
  he did so, because, said he people won't buy them unless we do.
• 2:27:56
  The London people always want their horses to carry their heads high and a
• 2:28:00
  step high. Of course, it is very bad for the horses, but
• 2:28:05
  then it is good for trade. The horses soon wear up or get diseased,
• 2:28:11
  and they come for another pair. That said Max, is what he
• 2:28:15
  said in my hearing. You can judge for yourself what I suffered with that
• 2:28:20
  rein for four long months in my lady's carriage. It would be hard to
• 2:28:26
  describe, but I am quite sure that had it lasted much longer, either
• 2:28:31
  my health or my temper would have given way. Before that, I never
• 2:28:37
  knew what it was to foam at the mouth. But now the action of
• 2:28:41
  the sharp bit was on my tongue and jaw, and the constrained position of
• 2:28:46
  my head and throat always caused me to froth at the mouth more or less.
• 2:28:52
  Some people think it is very fine to see this and say, what
• 2:28:56
  fine spirited creatures. But it is just as unnatural for horses as for men
• 2:29:03
  to foam at the mouth. It is a sure sign of some discomfort and
• 2:29:07
  should be attended to. Besides, this was very uncomfortable. Besides this,
• 2:29:16
  there was a pressure on my windpipe, which often made my breathing very uncomfortable.
• 2:29:22
  When I returned from my work. My neck and chest were strained and
• 2:29:26
  painful, my mouth and tongue tender, and I felt worn and depressed.
• 2:29:33
  In my old home, I always knew that John and my master were my
• 2:29:35
  friends, but here, although in many ways I was well treated, I
• 2:29:41
  had no friend. Yorke might have known, and very likely did know,
• 2:29:48
  how that rain harassed me, but I suppose he took it as a matter
• 2:29:52
  of course that it could not be helped. At any rate, nothing was
• 2:29:56
  done to relieve me. Chapter twenty four. The Lady Anne, or runaway
• 2:30:03
  Horse. Early in the spring, Lord w and part of his family went
• 2:30:09
  up to London and took York with them. I and Ginger and some of
• 2:30:15
  the other horses were left at home for use, and the head groom was
• 2:30:18
  left in charge. The Lady Harriet, who remained at the hall, was
• 2:30:24
  a great invalid and never went out in the carriage, and the Lady Anne
• 2:30:28
  preferred riding on horseback with her brother or cousins. She was a perfect horsewoman,
• 2:30:35
  and as gay and gentle as she was beautiful. She chose me for
• 2:30:39
  her horse and named me Black Auster. I enjoyed these rides very much in
• 2:30:46
  the clear, cold air, sometimes with Ginger, sometimes with Lizzie. This
• 2:30:52
  Lizzie was a bright bay mare, almost thoroughbred, and a great favorite with
• 2:30:56
  a gentleman on account of her fine action and lively spirit. But Ginger,
• 2:31:03
  who knew more of her than I did, told me she was rather nervous.
• 2:31:07
  There was a gentleman of the name of Blantyre staying at the hall.
• 2:31:11
  He always rode Lizzie and praised her so much that one day Lady Anne ordered
• 2:31:16
  the side saddle to be put on her and the other saddle on me.
• 2:31:22
  When we came to the door, the gentleman seemed very uneasy. How is
• 2:31:26
  this, he said, Are you tired of your good black Auster. Oh
• 2:31:31
  no, not at all, she replied. But I am amiable enough to
• 2:31:37
  let you ride him for once, and I will try your charming Lizzie.
• 2:31:41
  You must confess that in size and appearance, she is far more a lady's
• 2:31:46
  horse than my own favorite. Do let me advise you not to mount her,
• 2:31:52
  he said. She is a charming creature, but she is too nervous
• 2:31:58
  for a lady. I assure you she is not perfectly safe. Let me
• 2:32:03
  beg you to have the saddles changed. My dear cousin, said Lady Anne,
• 2:32:07
  laughing, pray do not trouble your good, careful head about me.
• 2:32:13
  I have been a horsewoman ever since I was a baby, and I have
• 2:32:16
  followed the hounds a great many times. Though I know you do not approve
• 2:32:22
  of Lady's hunting, but still that is the fact, and I intend to
• 2:32:26
  try this Lizzie that you gentlemen are so fond of. So please help me
• 2:32:31
  to mount like a good friend as you are. There was no more to
• 2:32:35
  be said. He placed her carefully on the saddle, looked to the bit
• 2:32:41
  and curb, gave the reins gently into her hand, and then mounted me.
• 2:32:46
  Just as we were moving off, a footman came out with a slip
• 2:32:50
  of paper and a message from Lady Harriet. Would they ask this question for
• 2:32:56
  her at doctor Ashley's and bring the answer. The village was about a mile
• 2:33:01
  off and the doctor's house was the last in it. We went along gaily
• 2:33:07
  enough till we came to his gate. There was a short drive up to
• 2:33:11
  the house between tall evergreens. Blantyret alighted at the gate and was going to
• 2:33:18
  open it for Lady Anne, but she said, I will wait for you
• 2:33:22
  here and you can hang Astor's reins on the gate. He looked at her
• 2:33:26
  doubtfully. I will not be five minutes, he said, Oh, do
• 2:33:31
  not hurry yourself, Lizzie, and I shall not run away from you.
• 2:33:37
  He hung my reins on one of the iron spikes, and was soon hidden
• 2:33:41
  among the trees. Lizzie was standing quietly by the side of the road a
• 2:33:46
  few paces off, with her back to me. My young mistress was sitting
• 2:33:52
  easily with a loose rein, humming a little song. I listened to my
• 2:33:58
  rider's footsteps until they reached the house, and heard him knock at the door.
• 2:34:03
  There was a meadow on the opposite side of the road, the gate
• 2:34:07
  of which stood open. Just then, some cart horses and several young colts
• 2:34:13
  came trotting out in a very disorderly manner, while a boy behind was cracking
• 2:34:20
  a great whip. The colts were wild and frolicsome, and one of them
• 2:34:26
  bolted across the road and blundered up against Lizzie's hind legs. And whether it
• 2:34:31
  was the stupid colt, or the loud cracking of the whip, or both,
• 2:34:37
  I cannot say. But she gave a violent kick and dashed off into
• 2:34:41
  a headlong gallop. It was so sudden that Lady Anne was nearly unseated,
• 2:34:46
  but she soon recovered herself. I gave a loud, shrill neigh for help.
• 2:34:52
  Again and again I neighed, pawing the ground impatiently and tossing my head
• 2:34:58
  to get the rein loose. I had not long to wait. Blantyre came
• 2:35:03
  running to the gate. He looked anxiously about and just caught sight of the
• 2:35:07
  flying figure, now far away on the road. In an instant, he
• 2:35:11
  sprang to the saddle. I needed no whip, no spur, for I
• 2:35:16
  was as eager as my rider. He saw it, and giving me free
• 2:35:20
  rein and leaning a little forward, we dashed after them for about a mile
• 2:35:28
  and a half. The road ran straight and then bent to the right,
• 2:35:33
  after which it divided into two roads. Long before we came to the bend,
• 2:35:39
  she was out of sight which way had she turned. A woman was
• 2:35:43
  standing at her garden gate, shading her eyes with her hand and looking eagerly
• 2:35:50
  up the road. Scarcely drawing the rein. Blantyrere shouted which way to the
• 2:35:58
  right, cried the woman, pointing with her, and away we went up
• 2:36:01
  the right hand road. Then for a moment we caught sight of her another
• 2:36:07
  bend, and she was hidden again. Several times we caught glimpses and then
• 2:36:13
  lost them. We scarcely seemed to gain ground upon them at all. An
• 2:36:18
  old road mender was standing near a heap of stones, his shovel dropped and
• 2:36:24
  his hands raised. As we came near, he made a sign to speak,
• 2:36:28
  blantyree, drew the reins a little to the common. To the common,
• 2:36:33
  sir, she has turned off there. I knew this common very well.
• 2:36:39
  It was, for the most part very uneven ground, covered with heather
• 2:36:43
  and dark green furze bushes, with here and there a scrubby old thorn tree.
• 2:36:50
  There were also open spaces of fine short grass, with ant hills and
• 2:36:56
  mole turns everywhere, and the worst place I ever knew for a headlong gallop.
• 2:37:03
  We had hardly turned on the common when we caught sight again of the
• 2:37:07
  green habit flying on before us. My lady's hat was gone, and her
• 2:37:11
  long brown hair was streaming behind her. Her head and body were thrown back,
• 2:37:18
  as if she was pulling with all her remaining strength, and as if
• 2:37:22
  that strength was nearly exhausted. It was clear that the roughness of the ground
• 2:37:28
  had very much lessened Lizzie's pace, and there seemed to be a chance that
• 2:37:33
  we might overtake her. While we were on the high road. Blantyre had
• 2:37:39
  given me my head. But now with a light hand and a practiced eye,
• 2:37:45
  he guided me over the ground in such a masterly manner that my pace
• 2:37:48
  was scarcely slackened, and we were decidingly gaining on them. But about half
• 2:37:56
  way across the heath there had been a wide dike recently cut, and the
• 2:38:01
  earth from the cutting was cast up roughly on the other side. Surely this
• 2:38:05
  would stop them, but no. With scarcely a pause, Lizzie took the
• 2:38:11
  leap, stumbled among the rough clods, and fell. Blantyre groaned, Now,
• 2:38:18
  ast, do your best. He gave me a steady rein. I
• 2:38:22
  gathered myself well together, and with one determined leap, cleared both dike and
• 2:38:28
  bank. Motionless among the heather, with her face to the earth, lay
• 2:38:33
  my poor young mistress. Blontree kneeled down and called her name. There was
• 2:38:39
  no sound. Gently he turned her face upward. It was ghastly white,
• 2:38:45
  and the eyes were closed. Annie, Dear Annie, do speak, but
• 2:38:50
  there was no answer. He unbuttoned her habit, loosened her collar, felt
• 2:38:56
  her hands and wrists, then started up and looked wildly around him for help.
• 2:39:03
  At no great distance there were two men cutting turf, who, seeing
• 2:39:07
  Lizzie running wild without a rider, had left their work to catch her.
• 2:39:13
  Blantyre's Halloo soon brought them to the spot. The foremost man seemed much trouble
• 2:39:20
  at the sight, and asked what he could do. Can you ride well,
• 2:39:26
  sir? I ain't bent much of a horseman, but I'll risk my
• 2:39:28
  neck for the lady Anne. She was uncommon good to my wife in the
• 2:39:33
  winter. Then mount this horse, my friend, your neck will be quite
• 2:39:37
  safe, and ride to the doctor's and ask him to come instantly. Then
• 2:39:43
  go to the hall, tell them all that you know, and bid them
• 2:39:46
  to send me the carriage with Lady Anne's maid and help. I shall stay
• 2:39:52
  here, all right, sir, I'll do my best. I pray God
• 2:39:56
  the dear young lady may open her eyes soon. Then, seeing the other
• 2:40:01
  man, he called out here, Joe, run for some water, and
• 2:40:05
  tell my missus to come as quickly as she can to the lady Anne.
• 2:40:11
  He then somehow scrambled into the saddle, and with a gee up and a
• 2:40:16
  clap on my sides with both of his legs, he started on his journey,
• 2:40:20
  making a little circuit to avoid the dike. He had no whip,
• 2:40:26
  which seemed to trouble him, but my pace soon cured that difficulty, and
• 2:40:31
  he found the best thing he could do was to stick to the saddle and
• 2:40:35
  hold me in, which he did manfully. I shook him as little as
• 2:40:39
  I could help, but once or twice on the rough road he called out,
• 2:40:43
  steady, whoa steady. On the high road, we were all right.
• 2:40:48
  And at the doctor's and the hall he did his errand like a good
• 2:40:52
  man and true. They asked him in to take a drop of something.
• 2:40:58
  No, no, he said, I'll be back to them again by a
• 2:41:01
  short cut through the fields, and there afore the carriage. There was a
• 2:41:07
  great deal of hurrying and excitement. After the news became known. I was
• 2:41:11
  turned into my box, the saddle and bridle were taken off, and a
• 2:41:16
  cloth thrown over me. Ginger was saddled and sent off in great haste for
• 2:41:22
  Lord George, and I soon heard the carriage roll out of the yard.
• 2:41:28
  It seemed a long time before Ginger came back, and before we were left
• 2:41:31
  alone, and then she told me all that she had seen. I can't
• 2:41:37
  tell much. She said. We went at a gallop nearly all the way
• 2:41:41
  and got there just as the doctor rode up. There was a woman sitting
• 2:41:46
  on the ground with a lady's head in her lap. The doctor poured something
• 2:41:50
  into her mouth, but all that I heard was she is not dead.
• 2:41:56
  Then I was led off by a man to a little distance. After a
• 2:42:01
  while, she was taken to the carriage, and we came home together.
• 2:42:05
  I heard my master say to a gentleman who stopped him to inquire, that
• 2:42:09
  he hoped no bones were broken, but that she had not spoken yet.
• 2:42:15
  When Lord George took Ginger for hunting, Yorke shook his head. He said
• 2:42:20
  it ought to be a steady hand to train a horse for the first season,
• 2:42:24
  and not a random rider like Lord George. Ginger used to like it
• 2:42:30
  very much. But sometimes when she came back, I could see that she
• 2:42:33
  had been very much strained, and now and then she gave a short cough.
• 2:42:39
  She had too much spirit to complain that I could not help feeling anxious
• 2:42:45
  about her. Two days after the accident. Blantyre paid me a visit.
• 2:42:50
  He patted me and praised me very much. He told Lord George that he
• 2:42:56
  was sure the horse knew of Annie's danger as well as he did. I
• 2:43:01
  could not have held him in if I would. He said she ought never
• 2:43:05
  ride any other horse. I found by their conversation that my young mistress was
• 2:43:11
  now out of danger and would soon be able to ride again. This was
• 2:43:16
  good news to me, and I looked forward to a happy life. End
• 2:43:22
  of Chapter twenty four. Chapter twenty five Ruben Smith. Now I must say
• 2:43:31
  a little about Reuben Smith, who was left in charge of the stables when
• 2:43:35
  Yorke went to London. No one more thoroughly understood his business than he did,
• 2:43:41
  and when he was all right, there could not be a more faithful
• 2:43:43
  or valuable man. He was gentle and very clever in his management of horses,
• 2:43:50
  and could doctor them almost as well as a farrier, for he had
• 2:43:54
  lived two years with a veterinary surgeon. He was a first rate driver.
• 2:44:00
  He could take a four in hand or at tandem as easily as a pair.
• 2:44:05
  He was a handsome man, a good scholar, and had very pleasant
• 2:44:09
  manners. I believe everybody liked him, certainly the horses did. The only
• 2:44:15
  wonder was that he should be in an under situation and not in the place
• 2:44:18
  of a head coachman like York. But he had one great fault, and
• 2:44:22
  that was the love of drink. He was not like some men, always
• 2:44:28
  at it. He used to keep steady for weeks or months together, and
• 2:44:33
  then he would break out and have a bout of it, as Yorke called
• 2:44:37
  it, and be a disgrace to himself, a terror to his wife,
• 2:44:41
  and a nuisance to all that had to do with him. He was,
• 2:44:46
  however, so useful that two or three times Yorke had hushed the matter up
• 2:44:50
  and kept it from the Earl's knowledge. But one night, when Reuben had
• 2:44:54
  to drive a party home from a ball, he was so drunk that he
• 2:44:58
  could not hold the rain, and a gentleman of the party had to mount
• 2:45:01
  the box and drive the ladies home. Of course, this could not be
• 2:45:07
  hidden, and Reuben was at once dismissed. His poor wife and little children
• 2:45:13
  had to turn out of the pretty cottage by the park gate and go where
• 2:45:16
  there could. Old Max told me all this, for it happened a good
• 2:45:20
  while ago. But shortly before ginger, and I came. Smith had been
• 2:45:26
  taken back again. Yorke had interceded for him with the Earl, who was
• 2:45:31
  very kind hearted, and the man had promised faithfully that he would never taste
• 2:45:35
  another drop as long as he lived there. He had kept his promise so
• 2:45:41
  well that Yorke thought he might be safely trusted to fill his place while he
• 2:45:45
  was away. And he was so clever and honest that no one else seemed
• 2:45:50
  so well fitted for it. It was now early in April, and the
• 2:45:54
  family was expected home some time in May. The light Brothham was to be
• 2:46:00
  fresh done up, and as Colonel Blentare was obliged to return to his regiment,
• 2:46:05
  it was arranged that Smith should drive him to the town in it and
• 2:46:07
  ride back. For this purpose, He took the saddle with him, and
• 2:46:11
  I was chosen for the journey. At the station, the Colonel put some
• 2:46:16
  money into Smith's hand and bid him good bye, saying, take care of
• 2:46:20
  your mistress, Reuben, and don't let black Ouster be hacked about by any
• 2:46:24
  random young prig that wants to ride him. Keep him for the lady.
• 2:46:30
  We left the carriage at the maker's and Smith rode me to the white lion,
• 2:46:33
  and ordered the hostler to feed me well and have me ready for him
• 2:46:37
  at four o'clock. A nail in one of my front shoes had started as
• 2:46:41
  I came along, but the hostler did not notice it till just about four
• 2:46:46
  o'clock. Smith did not come into the yard till five, and then he
• 2:46:50
  said he should not leave till six, as he had met with some old
• 2:46:54
  friends. The men then told him off the nail and asked if he should
• 2:46:58
  have the shoe looked too. No, said Smith, that will be all
• 2:47:03
  right till we get home. He spoke in a very loud, offhand way,
• 2:47:09
  and I thought it very unlike him not to see about the shoe,
• 2:47:11
  as he was generally wonderfully particular about loose nails in our shoes. He did
• 2:47:16
  not come at six or seven, nor eight, and it was nearly nine
• 2:47:22
  o'clock before he called for me, and then it was with a loud,
• 2:47:24
  rough voice. He seemed in a very bad temper and abused the hostler,
• 2:47:30
  though I could not tell what for. The landlord stood at the door and
• 2:47:35
  said, have a care, mister Smith. But he answered angrily with an
• 2:47:39
  oath, and almost before he was out of the town. He began to
• 2:47:43
  gallop, frequently giving me a sharp cut with his whip. Though I was
• 2:47:46
  going at full speed, the moon had not yet risen, and it was
• 2:47:50
  very dark. The roads were stony, having been recently mended. Going over
• 2:47:56
  them at this pace, my shoe became looser, and as we neared the
• 2:48:00
  turnpike gate, it came off. If Smith had been in his right senses,
• 2:48:07
  he would have been sensible of something wrong in my pace, but he
• 2:48:09
  was too drunk to notice. Beyond the turnpike was a long piece of road
• 2:48:16
  upon which fresh stones had just been laid, large sharp stones, over which
• 2:48:22
  no horse could be driven quickly without risk of danger. Over this road with
• 2:48:26
  one shoe gone, I was forced to gallop at my utmost speed, my
• 2:48:31
  rider meanwhile cutting into me with his whip and with wild curses, urging me
• 2:48:35
  to go still faster. Of course, my shoeless foot suffered dreadfully. The
• 2:48:41
  hoof was broken and split down to the very quick, and the inside was
• 2:48:46
  terribly cut by the sharpness of the stones. This could not go on.
• 2:48:50
  No horse could keep his footing under such circumstances. The pain was too great.
• 2:48:56
  I stumbled and fell with violence on both my knees. Smith was flung
• 2:49:01
  off by my fall, and owing to the speed I was going at,
• 2:49:05
  he must have fallen with great force. I soon recovered my feet and limped
• 2:49:09
  to the side of the road, where it was free from stones. The
• 2:49:13
  moon had just risen above the hedge, and by its light I could see
• 2:49:16
  Smith lying a few yards beyond me. He did not rise. He made
• 2:49:22
  one slight effort to do so, and then there was a heavy groan.
• 2:49:28
  I could have grown too, for I was suffering intense pain, both from
• 2:49:31
  my foot and knees. But horses are used to bear their pain in silence.
• 2:49:37
  I uttered no sound, but I stood there and listened one more heavy
• 2:49:43
  groan from Smith. But though he now lay in the full moonlight, I
• 2:49:46
  could see no motion. I could do nothing for him myself. But oh
• 2:49:52
  how it listened for the sound of horse or wheels or footsteps. The road
• 2:49:58
  was not much frequented, and at this time time of the night, we
• 2:50:01
  might stay for hours before help came to us. I stood watching and listening.
• 2:50:07
  It was a calm, sweet April night. There were no sounds but
• 2:50:11
  a few low notes of a nightingale, and nothing moved but the white clouds
• 2:50:16
  near the moon, and a brown owl that flitted over the hedge. It
• 2:50:20
  made me think of the summer nights long ago when I used to lie beside
• 2:50:24
  my mother in the green pleasant meadow at Farmer Gray's end of Chapter twenty five,
• 2:50:33
  Chapter twenty six. How it ended. It must have been nearly midnight
• 2:50:41
  when I heard, at a great distance the sound of a horse's feet.
• 2:50:46
  Sometimes the sound died away, then it grew clearer again and nearer. The
• 2:50:52
  road to Earlshall led through woods that belonged to the Earl. The sound came
• 2:50:56
  in that direction, and I hoped it might be some one coming in search
• 2:51:01
  of us. As the sound came nearer and nearer, I was almost sure
• 2:51:05
  I could distinguish Ginger's step a little nearer, and I could tell she was
• 2:51:11
  in the dog cart. I neighed loudly, and was overjoyed to hear an
• 2:51:16
  answering nay from Ginger and men's voices. They came slowly over the stones and
• 2:51:22
  stopped at the dark figure that lay upon the ground. One of the men
• 2:51:26
  jumped out and stooped down over it. It is Reuben, he said,
• 2:51:33
  and he does not stir. The other man followed and bent over him.
• 2:51:39
  He's dead, he said, Feel how cold his hands are. They raised
• 2:51:48
  him up, but there was no life, and his hair was soaked with
• 2:51:52
  blood. They laid him down again and came and looked at me. They
• 2:51:58
  soon saw my cut knees. Why the horse has been down and thrown him?
• 2:52:03
  Who would have thought the black horse would have done that? Nobody thought
• 2:52:07
  he could fall. Reuben must have been lying there for hours. Odd too,
• 2:52:13
  that the horse has not moved from the place. Robert then attempted to
• 2:52:20
  lead me forward. I made a step, but almost fell again. Halloo,
• 2:52:28
  he is bad in the foot as well as his knees. Look here,
• 2:52:31
  his hoof is cut all to pieces. He might well come down,
• 2:52:35
  poor fellow, I tell you what ned. I'm afraid it hasn't been all
• 2:52:41
  right with Reuben. Just think of his riding a horse over these stones without
• 2:52:45
  a shoe. Why, if he had been in his right senses, he
• 2:52:48
  would just as soon have tried to ride him over the moon. I'm afraid
• 2:52:52
  it has been the old thing over again. Poor Susan. She looked awfully
• 2:52:58
  pale when she came to my house to ask if he had not come home.
• 2:53:03
  She made believe she was not a bit anxious, and talked a lot
• 2:53:07
  of the things that may have kept him. But for all that, she
• 2:53:09
  begged me to go and meet him. But what must we do. There's
• 2:53:16
  a horse to get home, as well as the body, and that will
• 2:53:18
  be no easy matter. Then followed a conversation between them till it was agreed
• 2:53:26
  that Robert, as the groom, should lead me, and that Ned must
• 2:53:31
  take the body. It was a hard job to get it into the dogcart,
• 2:53:35
  for there was no one to hold Ginger. But she knew as well
• 2:53:37
  as I did what was going on, and stood as still as a stone.
• 2:53:43
  I noticed that, because if she had a fault, it was that
• 2:53:46
  she was impatient in standing. Ned started off very slowly with his sad load,
• 2:53:54
  and Robert came and looked at my foot again. Then he took his
• 2:53:58
  handkerchief and bound it closely round, and so he led me home. I
• 2:54:05
  shall never forget that night walk. It was more than three miles. Robert
• 2:54:09
  led me on very slowly, and I limped and hobbled on as well as
• 2:54:13
  I could, with great pain. I am sure he was sorry for me,
• 2:54:20
  for he often patted and encouraged me, talking to me in a pleasant
• 2:54:22
  voice. At last I reached my own box and had some corn, and
• 2:54:30
  after Robert had wrapped up my knees in wet cloths, he tied up my
• 2:54:33
  foot in a bran poultice to draw out the heat and cleanse it before the
• 2:54:39
  horse doctor saw it in the morning, and I managed to get myself down
• 2:54:43
  on the straw and slept in spite of the pain. The next day,
• 2:54:52
  after the farrier had examined my wounds, he said he hoped the joint was
• 2:54:58
  not injured, and if so, I should not be spoiled for work,
• 2:55:01
  but I should never lose the blemish. I believe they did the best to
• 2:55:07
  make a good cure, but it was a long and painful one. Proud
• 2:55:11
  flesh, as they called it, came up in my knees and was burned
• 2:55:16
  out with caustic and when at last it was healed, they put a blistering
• 2:55:20
  fluid over the front of both knees to bring all the hair off. They
• 2:55:24
  had some reason for this, and I suppose it was all right, as
• 2:55:31
  Smith's death had been so sudden and there was no one there to see it.
• 2:55:35
  There was an inquest held the landlord and host lurred the White lion,
• 2:55:39
  with several other people, gave evidence that he was intoxicated when he started from
• 2:55:45
  the inn. The keeper of the toll gate said, he rode at a
• 2:55:48
  hard gallop through the gate, and my shoe was picked up among the stones,
• 2:55:52
  so that the case was quite plain to them, and I was cleared
• 2:55:56
  of all blame. Everybody pitied Susan. She was nearly out of her mind.
• 2:56:05
  She kept saying, over and over again, Oh, he was so
• 2:56:09
  good, so good. It was all that cursed drink. Why will they
• 2:56:13
  sell that cursed drink? Oh, Reuben, Reuben. So she went on
• 2:56:20
  till after he was buried. And then, as she had no home or
• 2:56:26
  relations, she with her six little children, was obliged once more to leave
• 2:56:31
  the pleasant home by the tall oak trees and go into that great gloomy union
• 2:56:37
  house. End of chapter twenty six, Chapter twenty seven. Ruined and going
• 2:56:48
  down hill. As soon as my knees were sufficiently healed, I was turned
• 2:56:54
  into a small meadow for a month or two. No other creature was there.
• 2:56:58
  And though I enjoyed the liberty and the sweet grass, yet I had
• 2:57:03
  been so long used to society that I felt very lonely, ginger and I
• 2:57:09
  had become fast friends, and now I missed her company extremely. I often
• 2:57:13
  neighed when I heard horses feet passing in the road, but I seldom got
• 2:57:18
  an answer, till one morning the gate was opened, and who should come
• 2:57:22
  in but dear old Ginger. The man slipped off her halter and left her
• 2:57:28
  there with a joyful whinny. I trotted up to her. We were both
• 2:57:33
  glad to meet, but I soon found that it was not for our pleasure
• 2:57:37
  that she was brought to be with me. Her story would be too long
• 2:57:41
  to tell, but the end of it was that she had been ruined by
• 2:57:43
  hard riding and was now turned off to see what rest would do. Lord
• 2:57:50
  George was young and would take no mourning. He was a hard rider and
• 2:57:54
  would hunt whenever he could get the chance, quite careless of his horse.
• 2:57:58
  Soon after I left the stable, there was a steeplechase, and he determined
• 2:58:03
  to ride. Though the groom told him she was a little strained and was
• 2:58:07
  not fit for the race. He did not believe it, and on the
• 2:58:11
  day of the race, urged Ginger to keep up with the foremost riders.
• 2:58:16
  With her high spirit, she strained herself to the utmost. She came in
• 2:58:20
  with the first three horses, but her wind was touched, besides which he
• 2:58:26
  was too heavy for her, and her back was strained. And so she
• 2:58:31
  said, here we are ruined in the prime of our youth and strength,
• 2:58:37
  you by a drunkard and I by a fool. It is very hard.
• 2:58:41
  We both felt in ourselves that we were not what we had been. However
• 2:58:46
  that did not spoil the pleasure we had in each other's company. We did
• 2:58:50
  not gallop about as we once did, but we used to feed and lie
• 2:58:54
  down together and stand for hours under one of the shady lime trees, with
• 2:58:58
  our heads close to each other. And so we passed our time till the
• 2:59:03
  family returned from town. One day, we saw the Earl come into the
• 2:59:07
  meadow, and York was with him. Seeing who it was, we stood
• 2:59:13
  still under our lime tree and let them come to us. They examined us
• 2:59:18
  carefully. The Earl seemed much annoyed. There is three hundred pounds flung away
• 2:59:24
  for no earthly use, said he. But what I care most for is
• 2:59:30
  that these horses of my old friend, who thought they would find a good
• 2:59:33
  home with me, are ruined. The mayor shall have a twelve months run,
• 2:59:37
  and we shall see what that will do for her. But the black
• 2:59:41
  one, he must be sold. Tis a great pity. But I could
• 2:59:46
  not have knees like that in my stables. No, my lord, of
• 2:59:50
  course, not, said York. But he might get a place where appearance
• 2:59:54
  is not of much consequence and still be well treated. I know a man
• 2:59:58
  in Bath, the mass of some livery stables, who often wants a good
• 3:00:01
  horse at a low figure. I know he looks well after his horses.
• 3:00:07
  The inquest cleared the horse's character, and your Lordship's recommendation or mine would be
• 3:00:11
  sufficient warrant for him. You had better write to him, York. I
• 3:00:16
  should be more particular about the place than the money he would fetch. After
• 3:00:22
  this, they left us. They'll soon take you away, said Ginger.
• 3:00:26
  And I shall lose the only friend I have, and most likely we shall
• 3:00:31
  never see each other again. Tis a hard world. About a week after
• 3:00:35
  this, Robert came into the field with a halter, which he slipped over
• 3:00:39
  my head and led me away. There was no leave taking of Ginger.
• 3:00:45
  We neighed to each other as I was led off, and she trotted anxiously
• 3:00:48
  along by the hedge, calling to me as long as she could hear the
• 3:00:52
  sound of my feet. Through the recommendation of York, I was bought by
• 3:00:58
  the master of the Livery stables. I had to go by train, which
• 3:01:01
  was new to me and required a good deal of courage the first time.
• 3:01:07
  But as I found the puffing, brushing, whistling, and more than all
• 3:01:11
  the trembling of the horse box in which I stood did mean no real harm,
• 3:01:15
  I soon took it quietly. When I reached the end of my journey,
• 3:01:20
  I found myself in a tolerably comfortable stable and well attended to. These
• 3:01:26
  stables were not so airy and pleasant as those I had been used to.
• 3:01:31
  The stalls were laid on a slope instead of being level, and as my
• 3:01:35
  head was kept tied to the manger, I was obliged always to stand on
• 3:01:39
  the slope, which was very fatiguing. Men do not seem to know yet
• 3:01:45
  that horses can do more work if they can stand comfortably and can turn about.
• 3:01:50
  However, I was well fed and well cleaned, and on the whole
• 3:01:54
  I think our master took as much care of us as he could. He
• 3:01:58
  kept a good many horses carriages of different kinds for hire, sometimes his own
• 3:02:03
  men drove them. At others, the horse and chaise were let to gentlemen
• 3:02:07
  or ladies who drove themselves. End of Chapter twenty seven, Chapter twenty eight.
• 3:02:16
  A job horse and his drivers. Hitherto I had always been driven by
• 3:02:22
  people who at least knew how to drive. But in this place I was
• 3:02:26
  to get my experience of all the different kinds of bad and ignorant driving to
• 3:02:31
  which we horses are subjected. For I was a job horse and was let
• 3:02:37
  out to all sorts of people who wished to hire me. And as I
• 3:02:41
  was good tempered and gentle, I think I was oftener let out to the
• 3:02:43
  ignorant drivers than some of the other horses, because I could be depended upon.
• 3:02:50
  It would take a long time to tell of all the different styles in
• 3:02:52
  which I was driven, but I will mention a few of them. First.
• 3:02:56
  There were the tight rain drivers, the men who seem to think that
• 3:03:01
  all depended on holding the reins as hard as they could, never relaxing the
• 3:03:05
  pull on the horse's mouth or giving him the least liberty of movement. They
• 3:03:09
  are always talking about keeping the horse well in hand and holding a horse up,
• 3:03:15
  just as if a horse was not made to hold himself up. Some
• 3:03:18
  poor, broken down horses whose mouths have been made hard and insensible by just
• 3:03:24
  such drivers as these, may perhaps find some support in it. But for
• 3:03:28
  a horse who can depend upon his own legs, and who has a tender
• 3:03:33
  mouth and is easily guided, it is not only tormenting, but it is
• 3:03:37
  stupid. Then there are the loose rein drivers, who let the reins lie
• 3:03:41
  easily on our backs, and their own hand rests lazily on their knees.
• 3:03:48
  Of course, such gentlemen have no control over a horse if anything happens suddenly.
• 3:03:52
  If a horse shies or starts or stumbles, they are nowhere and cannot
• 3:03:58
  help the horse or themselves till the mids chief is done. Of course,
• 3:04:01
  for myself I had no objection to it, as I was not in the
• 3:04:05
  habit either of startling or stumbling, and had only been used to depend on
• 3:04:09
  my driver for guidance and encouragement. Still, one likes to feel the rain
• 3:04:16
  a little in going downhill, and likes to know that one's driver is not
• 3:04:20
  gone to sleep. Besides, a slovenly way of driving gets a horse into
• 3:04:24
  bad and often lazy habits, and when he changes hands he has to be
• 3:04:28
  whipped out of them with more or less pain and trouble. Squire Gordon always
• 3:04:35
  kept us to our best paces and our best manners. He said that spoiling
• 3:04:39
  a horse and letting him get into bad habits was just as cruel as spoiling
• 3:04:45
  a child, and both had to suffer for it afterward. Besides, these
• 3:04:50
  drivers are often careless altogether, and will attend to anything else more than their
• 3:04:54
  horses. I went out in the Phaeton one day with one of them.
• 3:04:58
  He had a lady and two children behind. He flopped the reins about as
• 3:05:03
  we started, and of course gave me several unmeaning cuts of the whip.
• 3:05:07
  Though I was fairly off, there had been a good deal of road mending
• 3:05:11
  going on, and even where the stones were not freshly laid down, there
• 3:05:16
  were a great many loose ones about. My driver was laughing and joking with
• 3:05:20
  the lady and the children, and talking about the country to the right and
• 3:05:24
  the left. But he never thought it worth while to keep an eye on
• 3:05:26
  his horse, or to drive on the smoothest parts of the road. And
• 3:05:31
  so it easily happened that I got a stone in one of my fore feet.
• 3:05:35
  Now, if mister Gordon or John, or in fact any good driver
• 3:05:39
  had been there, he would have seen that something was wrong before I had
• 3:05:43
  gone three paces, or even if it had been dark, a practiced hand
• 3:05:48
  would have felt by the rain that there was something wrong in the step,
• 3:05:52
  and they would have got down and picked out the stone. But this man
• 3:05:56
  went on laughing and talking, while at every step up the stone became more
• 3:06:01
  firmly wedged between my shoe and the frog of my foot. The stone was
• 3:06:05
  sharp on the inside and round on the outside, which, as every one
• 3:06:09
  knows, is the most dangerous kind that a horse can pick up, at
• 3:06:13
  the same time cutting his foot and making him most liable to stumble and fall.
• 3:06:20
  Whether the man was partly blind or only very careless, I can't say.
• 3:06:24
  But he drove me with that stone in my foot for a good half
• 3:06:26
  mile before he saw anything. By that time I was going so lame with
• 3:06:31
  the pain that at last he saw it and called out, well, here's
• 3:06:35
  a go. Why they have sent us out with a lame horse? What
• 3:06:39
  a shame. He then chucked the reins and flipped about the whip, saying,
• 3:06:43
  now then it's no use playing the old soldier with me. There's the
• 3:06:46
  journey to go, and it's no use turning lame and lazy. Just at
• 3:06:52
  this time a farmer came riding up on a brown cob. He lifted his
• 3:06:56
  hat and pulled up. I beg your pardon, sir, he said,
• 3:07:01
  but I think there is something the matter with your horse. He goes very
• 3:07:03
  much as if he had a stone in his shoe. If you will allow
• 3:07:07
  me, I will look at his feet. These loose, scattered stones are
• 3:07:11
  confounded, dangerous things for the horses. He's a hired horse, said my
• 3:07:16
  driver. I don't know what's the matter with him, but it is a
• 3:07:20
  great shame to send out a lame beast like this. The farmer dismounted,
• 3:07:24
  and, slipping his rein over his arm, at once took up my near
• 3:07:28
  foot. Bless me, there's a stone lame, I should think so.
• 3:07:33
  At first he tried to dislodge it with his hand, but as it was
• 3:07:37
  now very tightly wedged, he drew a stone pick out of his pocket,
• 3:07:43
  and very carefully and with some trouble, got it out. Then, holding
• 3:07:46
  it up, he said, there that's the stone your horse had picked up.
• 3:07:50
  It is a wonder he did not fall down and break his knees into
• 3:07:54
  the bargain. Well, to be sure, said my driver. That is
• 3:07:58
  a queer thing. I never knew that horses picked up stones before, didn't
• 3:08:03
  you, said the farmer rather contemptuously. But they do, though, and
• 3:08:09
  the best of them will do it, and you can't help it sometimes on
• 3:08:13
  such roads as these, And if you don't want to lame your horse,
• 3:08:16
  you must look sharp and get them out quickly. This foot is very much
• 3:08:20
  bruised, he said, setting it gently down and patting me. If I
• 3:08:24
  might advise, sir, you had better drive him gently for a while.
• 3:08:28
  The foot is a good deal hurt, and the lameness will not go off
• 3:08:31
  directly. Then, mounting his cob and raising his hat to the lady,
• 3:08:37
  he trotted off. When he was gone, my driver began to flop the
• 3:08:41
  reins about and whip the harness, by which I understood that I was to
• 3:08:45
  go on, which of course I did, glad that the stone was gone,
• 3:08:48
  but still in a good deal of pain. This was the sort of
• 3:08:52
  experience we job horses often came in for. End of Chap Eight, Chapter
• 3:09:01
  twenty nine cockneys. Then there is the steam engine style of driving. These
• 3:09:11
  drivers were mostly people from towns who never had a horse of their own and
• 3:09:16
  generally traveled by rail. They always seemed to think that a horse was something
• 3:09:22
  like a steam engine, only smaller. At any rate, they think that
• 3:09:26
  if only they pay for it, a horse is bound to go just as
• 3:09:30
  far and just as fast, and with just as heavy a load as they
• 3:09:33
  please. And be the roads heavy and muddy or dry and good, be
• 3:09:39
  they stony or smooth, uphill or downhill, It is all the same,
• 3:09:43
  on and on and on. One must go at the same pace with no
• 3:09:48
  relief and no consideration. These people never think of getting out to walk up
• 3:09:54
  a steep hill. Oh no, they have paid to ride, and ride
• 3:09:58
  they will will the horse, Oh he's used to it. What were horses
• 3:10:05
  made for if not to drag people uphill? Walk A good joke, indeed.
• 3:10:11
  And so the whip is piled and the rain is chucked, and often
• 3:10:13
  a rough scolding voice cries out, go along, you lazy beast, and
• 3:10:20
  then another slash of the whip, when all the time we are doing our
• 3:10:24
  very best to get along, uncomplaining, obedient, though often sorely harassed and
• 3:10:31
  downhearted. This steam engine style of driving wears us up faster than any other
• 3:10:39
  kind. I would far rather go twenty miles with a good considerate driver then
• 3:10:45
  I would go ten with some of these. It would take less out of
• 3:10:48
  me. Another thing, They scarcely ever put on the brake, however steep
• 3:10:54
  the downhill may be, and thus bad accidents sometimes happen, Or if they
• 3:11:01
  do put it on, they often forget to take it off at the bottom
• 3:11:03
  of the hill, and more than once I had to pull halfway up the
• 3:11:07
  next hill with one of the wheels held by the brake before my driver chose
• 3:11:13
  to think about it. That is a terrible strain on a horse. Then
• 3:11:20
  these cockneys, instead of starting at an easy pace as a gentleman would do,
• 3:11:26
  generally set off at full speed from the very stable yard. And when
• 3:11:31
  they want to stop, they first whip us, and when pulled up so
• 3:11:35
  suddenly that we are nearly thrown on our haunches and our mouths jagged with a
• 3:11:39
  bit. They call that pulling up with a dash. And when they turn
• 3:11:43
  a corner they do it as sharply as if there were no right side or
• 3:11:48
  wrong side of the road. I well remember one spring evening I and Rory
• 3:11:54
  had been out for the day. Rory was a horse that mostly went with
• 3:11:58
  me when a pair was ordered, and a good honest fellow he was.
• 3:12:03
  We had our own driver, and as he was always considerate and gentle with
• 3:12:07
  us, we had a very pleasant day. We were coming home at a
• 3:12:11
  good smart pace. About twilight, our road turned sharply to the left,
• 3:12:16
  but as we were close to the hedge on our own side, there was
• 3:12:20
  plenty of room to pass, our driver did not pull us in. As
• 3:12:26
  we neared the corner, I heard a horse and two wheels coming rapidly down
• 3:12:31
  the hill towards us. The hedge was high and I could see nothing,
• 3:12:35
  but the next moment we were upon each other. Happily for me, I
• 3:12:39
  was on the side next to the hedge. Rory was on the left side
• 3:12:43
  of the pole, and not even a shaft to protect him. The man
• 3:12:48
  who was driving was making straight for the corner, and when he came in
• 3:12:52
  sight of us, he had no time to pull over to his own side.
• 3:12:56
  The whole shock came upon Rory. The gig shaft ran right into the
• 3:13:01
  chest, making him stagger back with a cry that I shall never forget.
• 3:13:05
  The other horse was thrown upon its haunches, and one shaft broken it turned
• 3:13:09
  out that it was a horse from our own stables with a high wheeled gig
• 3:13:13
  that the young men were so fond of. The driver was one of those
• 3:13:20
  random ignorant fellows who don't even know which is their own side of the road,
• 3:13:24
  or if they know, don't care. And there was poor Rory with
• 3:13:28
  his flesh torn open and bleeding, and the blood streaming down. They said,
• 3:13:35
  it had been a little bit more to one side, it would have
• 3:13:37
  killed him, and a good thing for him, poor fellow, if it
• 3:13:41
  had. As it was, it was a long time before the wound healed,
• 3:13:46
  and then he was sold for coal carting. And what that is up
• 3:13:52
  and down those steep hills. Only horses know some of the sights I saw
• 3:13:58
  there. Or a horse had to come down with a heavily bloated two wheeled
• 3:14:01
  cart behind him on which no break could be placed. Named me sad even
• 3:14:07
  now to think of it. After Rory was disabled, I often went in
• 3:14:13
  the carriage with a mare named Peggy, who stood in the next stall to
• 3:14:16
  mine. She was a strong, well made animal of a bright dun color,
• 3:14:24
  beautifully dappled, and with a dark brown mane and tail. There was
• 3:14:28
  no high breeding about her. But she was very pretty and remarkably sweet tempered
• 3:14:33
  and willing. Still, there was an anxious look about her eye, by
• 3:14:39
  which I knew that she had some trouble. The first time we went out
• 3:14:43
  together, I thought she had a very odd pace. She seemed to go
• 3:14:48
  partly a trot, partly a canner, three or four paces, and then
• 3:14:52
  a little jumped forward. It was very unpleasant for any horse who pulled with
• 3:14:58
  her. It made me quite fidgety. When we got home, I asked
• 3:15:03
  her, and what made her go in that odd, awkward way? I,
• 3:15:09
  she said, in a troubled manner. I know my paces are very
• 3:15:13
  bad, but what can I do? It really is not my fault.
• 3:15:18
  It's just because my legs are so short. I stand nearly as high as
• 3:15:22
  you. But your legs are a good three inches longer above your knee than
• 3:15:26
  mine, And of course you can take a much longer step and go much
• 3:15:31
  faster. You see, I did not make myself. I wish I could
• 3:15:37
  have done so I would have had long legs. Then all my troubles come
• 3:15:41
  from my short legs, said Peggy in a desponding tone. But how is
• 3:15:46
  it, I said, when you are so strong and good tempered and willing.
• 3:15:54
  Why you see, said she, men will go so fast if one
• 3:16:00
  can't keep up to other horses, it is nothing but whit whip, whip
• 3:16:03
  all the time. And so I have to keep up as I could,
• 3:16:07
  and have got into this ugly shuffling pace. It was not always so.
• 3:16:15
  When I lived with my first master, I always went a good regular trot.
• 3:16:20
  But then he was not in such a hurry. He was a young
• 3:16:24
  clergyman in the country, and a good kind master he was. He had
• 3:16:28
  two churches a good way apart, and a great deal of work. But
• 3:16:33
  he never scolded or whipped me for not going faster. He was very fond
• 3:16:37
  of me. I only wish I was with him now, But he had
• 3:16:41
  to leave and go to a large town, and then I was sold to
• 3:16:46
  a farmer. Some farmers, you know, are capital masters, but I
• 3:16:52
  think this one was a low sort of man. He cared nothing about good
• 3:16:54
  horses or good driving. He only cared for going fast. I went as
• 3:17:00
  fast as I could, but that would not do, and he was always
• 3:17:03
  whipping. So I got into this way of making a spring forward to keep
• 3:17:07
  up on market nights. He used to stay very late at the inn and
• 3:17:11
  then drive home at a gallop. One dark night, he was galloping home
• 3:17:18
  as usual, when all of a sudden the wheel came against some great heavy
• 3:17:22
  thing in the road and turned the gig over. In a minute, he
• 3:17:26
  was thrown out and his arm broken, and some of his ribs. I
• 3:17:30
  think, at any rate it was the end of my living with him,
• 3:17:33
  and I was not sorry. But you see, it will be the same
• 3:17:37
  everywhere for me. If men must go so fast, I wish my legs
• 3:17:41
  were longer. Poor Peggy, I was very sorry for her. I could
• 3:17:50
  not comfort her, for I knew how hard it was upon slow paced horses
• 3:17:54
  to be put with fast ones. All the whipping comes to their share,
• 3:17:58
  and they can't help it. She was often used in the faithOn and was
• 3:18:03
  very much liked by some of the ladies because she was so gentle. And
• 3:18:07
  some time after this she was sold to two ladies who drove themselves and wanted
• 3:18:11
  a safe, good horse. I met her several times out in the country,
• 3:18:18
  upon a good, steady pace, and looking as gay and contented as
• 3:18:20
  a horse could be. I was very glad to see her, for she
• 3:18:26
  deserved good place. After she left us, another horse came in her stead.
• 3:18:33
  He was young and had a bad name for shying and starting, by
• 3:18:37
  which she had lost a good place. I asked them what made him shy?
• 3:18:43
  Well, I hardly know, he said. I was timid when I
• 3:18:46
  was young, and was a good deal frightened several times, and if I
• 3:18:50
  saw anything strange, I used to turn and look at it. You see,
• 3:18:54
  with our blinkers, one can't see or understand what a thing is unless
• 3:18:58
  one looks around. And then my master always gave me a whipping, which
• 3:19:03
  of course made me start on and did not make me less afraid. I
• 3:19:07
  think if he would let me just look at things quietly and see that there
• 3:19:11
  was nothing to hurt me, it would have been all right, and I
• 3:19:15
  should get used to them. One day, an old gentleman was riding with
• 3:19:20
  him, and a large piece of white paper or rag blew across just on
• 3:19:24
  one side of me. I shied and started forward. My master, as
• 3:19:28
  usual, whipped me smartly, but the old man cried out, you're wrong,
• 3:19:33
  You're wrong. You should never whip a horse for shying. He shies
• 3:19:37
  because he is frightened, and you only frighten him more and make the habit
• 3:19:41
  worse. So I suppose, oh men don't do so. I'm sure I
• 3:19:48
  don't want to shy for the sake of it. But how should one know
• 3:19:50
  what is dangerous and what is not if one is never allowed to get used
• 3:19:56
  to anything. I'm never afraid of what I know now. I was brought
• 3:20:01
  up in a park where there were deer. Of course I knew them all
• 3:20:05
  as well as I did a sheep or a cow. But they are not
• 3:20:07
  common. And I know of my sensible horses who are frightened at them,
• 3:20:11
  who kick up quite a shindy before they will pass a paddock where there are
• 3:20:16
  deer. I know what my companion said was true, and I wish that
• 3:20:22
  every young horse had a good master as Farmer Gray and Squire Gordon. Of
• 3:20:28
  course we sometimes came in for good driving here. I remember one morning I
• 3:20:33
  was put into the light gig and taken to a house in Potolney Street.
• 3:20:39
  Two gentlemen came out, the taller of them round to my head. He
• 3:20:43
  looked at the bit and bridle and just shifted the collar with his hand to
• 3:20:48
  see if it fitted comfortably. Do you consider this horse wants a kerb?
• 3:20:54
  He said to the hustler. Well, said the man. I should say,
• 3:21:00
  he would go just as well without. He has an uncommon good mouth,
• 3:21:05
  and though he has a fine spirit, he has no vice. But
• 3:21:09
  we generally find people like the curb. I don't like it, said the
• 3:21:13
  gentleman, be so good as to take it off and put the rein in
• 3:21:18
  the cheek. An easy mouth is a great thing on a long journey,
• 3:21:22
  is it not, old fella? He's said, patting my neck. Then
• 3:21:28
  he took the reins and they both got up. I can remember how quietly
• 3:21:31
  he turned me around, and then, with a light feel of the rain,
• 3:21:35
  and drawing the whip gently across my back, we were off. I
• 3:21:39
  arched my neck and set off at my best pace. I found I had
• 3:21:43
  someone behind me who knew how a good horse ought to be driven. It
• 3:21:48
  seemed like old times again, and made me feel quite gay. This gentleman
• 3:21:56
  took a great liking to me, and after trying me several times with a
• 3:22:00
  sat who prevailed upon my master to sell me to a friend of his who
• 3:22:03
  wanted a safe, pleasant horse for riding. And so it came to pass
• 3:22:09
  that in the summer I was sold to mister Barry. End of chapter twenty
• 3:22:15
  nine chapter thirty a thief. My new master was an unmarried man. He
• 3:22:26
  lived at Bath and was much engaged in business. His doctor advised him to
• 3:22:31
  take horse exercise, and for this purpose he bought me. He hired a
• 3:22:35
  stable a short distance from his lodgings, and engaged a man named Fletcher as
• 3:22:41
  his groom. My master knew very little about horses, but he treated me
• 3:22:46
  well, and I should have had a good and easy place, but for
• 3:22:50
  circumstances of which he was ignorant. He ordered the best hay, with plenty
• 3:22:56
  of oats, crushed beans, and bran with vetches or rye grass as the
• 3:23:01
  man might think needful. I heard the master give the order, so I
• 3:23:05
  knew there was plenty of good food, and I thought I was well off.
• 3:23:11
  For a few days, all went on well. I found that my
• 3:23:13
  groom understood his business. He kept the stable clean and airy, and he
• 3:23:18
  groomed me thoroughly, and was never otherwise than gentle. He had been a
• 3:23:24
  hostler in one of the great hotels in Bath. He had given that up
• 3:23:28
  and now cultivated fruit and vegetables for the market, and his wife bread and
• 3:23:33
  fat and poultry and rabbits for sale. After a while it seemed to me
• 3:23:37
  that my oats came very short. I had the beans, but bran was
• 3:23:43
  mixed with them instead of oats, of which there were very few, certainly
• 3:23:48
  not more than a quarter of what there should have been. In two or
• 3:23:52
  three weeks. This began to tell upon my strength and spirits. The grass
• 3:23:56
  food, though very good, was not the thing to keep up my condition.
• 3:24:01
  Without corn, however, I could not complain nor make known my wants.
• 3:24:07
  So went on for about two months, and I wondered what my master
• 3:24:11
  did not see that something was the matter. However, one afternoon he rode
• 3:24:16
  out into the country to see a friend of his, a gentleman farmer that
• 3:24:20
  lived on the road to Wells. This gentleman had a very quick eye for
• 3:24:24
  horses, and after he had welcomed his friend, he said, casting his
• 3:24:28
  eye over me, it seems to me, Barry, that your horse does
• 3:24:33
  not look so well as he did when you first had him. Has he
• 3:24:35
  been well? Yes, I believe, so, said my master. But
• 3:24:41
  he is not nearly so lively as he was. My groom tells me that
• 3:24:46
  horses are always dull and weak in the autumn, and that I must expect
• 3:24:50
  it. Autumn fiddlesticks, said the farmer. Why this is only August,
• 3:24:58
  and with your light work good food, he ought not to go down like
• 3:25:01
  this even if it was autumn. How do you feed him, my master
• 3:25:07
  told him. The other shook his head slowly and began to feel me over.
• 3:25:13
  I can't say who eats your corn, my dear fellow, but I
• 3:25:16
  am much mistaken. If your horse gets it? Have you ridden very fast?
• 3:25:22
  No? Very gently? Then? Just put your hand here, said
• 3:25:28
  he, passing his hand over my neck and shoulder. He is as warm
• 3:25:31
  and damp as a horse just come up from grass. I advise you to
• 3:25:35
  look into your stable a little more. I hate to be suspicious, and
• 3:25:41
  thank Heaven, I have no cause to be, for I can trust my
• 3:25:43
  men present or absent. But there are mean scoundrels wicked enough to rob a
• 3:25:50
  dumb beast of his food. You must look into it. And turning to
• 3:25:56
  his man who had come to take me, give this horse a write good
• 3:26:00
  feed of bruised oats, and don't stint him. Dumb beasts, yes we
• 3:26:05
  are. But if I could have spoken, I could have told my master
• 3:26:09
  where his oats went to. My groom used to come every morning about six
• 3:26:13
  o'clock, and with him a little boy who always had a covered basket with
• 3:26:18
  him. He used to go with his father into the harness room where the
• 3:26:22
  corn was kept, and I could see them when the door stood Ajar fill
• 3:26:28
  a little bag with oats out of the bin, and then he used to
• 3:26:31
  be off five or six mornings after this. Just as the boy had left
• 3:26:37
  the stable, the door was pushed open and a policeman walked in, holding
• 3:26:41
  the child tight by the arm. Another policeman followed and locked the door on
• 3:26:46
  the inside, saying, show me the place where your father keeps his rabbit's
• 3:26:50
  food. The boy looked very frightened and began to cry, but there was
• 3:26:56
  no escape, and he led the way to the corn bin. Here the
• 3:27:01
  policeman found another empty bag like that which was found full of oats in the
• 3:27:05
  boy's basket. Filcher was cleaning my feet at the time, but they soon
• 3:27:11
  saw him, and though he blustered a good deal, they walked him off
• 3:27:15
  to the lock up, and his boy with him. I heard afterwards that
• 3:27:20
  the boy was not held to be guilty, but the man was sentenced to
• 3:27:24
  prison for two months. End of chapter thirty. Chapter thirty one a humbug.
• 3:27:37
  My master was not immediately suited, but in a few days a new
• 3:27:41
  groom came. He was a tall, good looking fellow enough. But if
• 3:27:46
  ever there was a humbug in the shape of a groom, Alfred Smirk was
• 3:27:52
  the man. He was very civil to me, and he never used me
• 3:27:56
  ill. In fact, he did a great deal of stoking and patting when
• 3:28:01
  the Master was there to see it. He always brushed my mane and tail
• 3:28:05
  with water, and my hoofs with oil before he brought me to the door,
• 3:28:11
  to make me look smart. But as to cleaning my feet, or
• 3:28:13
  looking after my shoes, or grooming me thoroughly, he thought no more of
• 3:28:18
  that than if I had been a cow. He left my bit rusty,
• 3:28:24
  my saddle damp, and my cropper stiff. Alfred Smirk considered himself very handsome.
• 3:28:33
  He spent a great deal of time about his hair, whiskers and necktie
• 3:28:37
  before a little looking glass in the harness room. When his master was speaking
• 3:28:41
  to him, it was always yes, sir, yes, sir, touching
• 3:28:46
  his hat at every word. And everyone thought that he was a very nice
• 3:28:50
  young man, and that mister Barry was very fortunate to meet with him.
• 3:28:56
  I should say he was the laziest, most conceited fellow I ever came near.
• 3:29:01
  Of course, it was a great thing not to be ill used,
• 3:29:05
  but then a horse wants more than that. I had a loose box and
• 3:29:11
  might have been very comfortable if he had not been too indolent to clean it
• 3:29:15
  out. He never took all the straw away, and the smell from what
• 3:29:18
  lay underneath was very bad, while the strong vapors that rose made my eyes
• 3:29:24
  smart and inflame, and I did not feel the same appetite for my food.
• 3:29:30
  One day his master came in and said, Alfred, the stable smell's
• 3:29:35
  rather strong. Should you not give the stall a good scrub and throw down
• 3:29:39
  plenty of water? Well, sir, he said, touching his cap.
• 3:29:45
  I'll do so, if you please, sir. But it is rather dangerous,
• 3:29:48
  sir, throwing down water in a horse's box. They are very apt
• 3:29:52
  to take cold. Sir. I should not like to do him an injury,
• 3:29:56
  but I'll do it if you please, sir. Well, said his
• 3:30:00
  master, I should not like him to take cold, but I don't like
• 3:30:03
  the smell of this stable. Do you think the drains are all right?
• 3:30:09
  Well, sir? Now you mention it. I think the drain does sometimes
• 3:30:11
  send back a smell. There may be something wrong, sir. Then send
• 3:30:18
  the bricklayer and have it seemed to said his master. Yes, sir,
• 3:30:22
  I will. The bricklayer came and pulled up a great many bricks, but
• 3:30:30
  found nothing amiss. So he put down some lime and charged the Master five
• 3:30:33
  shillings. And the smell in my box was as bad as ever. But
• 3:30:39
  that was not all. Standing. As I did on a quantity of moist
• 3:30:43
  straw, my feet grew unhealthy and tender, and the Master used to say,
• 3:30:50
  I don't know what is the matter with this horse. He goes very
• 3:30:52
  fumble footed. I am sometimes afraid he will stumble. Yes, sir,
• 3:30:58
  said Alfred, I have noticed the same myself when I have exercised him.
• 3:31:05
  Now, the fact was that he hardly ever did exercise me, And when
• 3:31:09
  the Master was busy, I often stood for days together without stretching my legs
• 3:31:13
  at all, and yet being fed just as high as if I were at
• 3:31:16
  hard work. This often disordered my health and made me sometimes heavy and dull,
• 3:31:24
  but more often restless and feverish. He never even gave me a meal
• 3:31:30
  of green food or a bran mash, which would have cooled me, for
• 3:31:33
  he was altogether as ignorant as he was conceited. And then instead of exercise
• 3:31:39
  or change of food, I had to take horse balls and drafts, which,
• 3:31:43
  besides the nuisance of having them poured down my throat, used to make
• 3:31:48
  me feel ill and uncomfortable. One day my feet were so tender that trotting
• 3:31:54
  over some stones with my master on my back, I made two such serious
• 3:31:58
  stumble that as he came down lansdown into the city, he stopped at the
• 3:32:03
  farriers and asked him to see what was the matter with me. The man
• 3:32:11
  took up my feet one by one and examined them. Then, standing up
• 3:32:16
  and dusting his hands one against the other, he said, your horse has
• 3:32:20
  got the thrush, and badly too. His feet are very tender. It
• 3:32:24
  is fortunate that he has not been down. I wonder your groom has not
• 3:32:28
  seen to it before. This is the sort of thing we find in fowl
• 3:32:33
  stables, where the litter is never properly cleaned out. If you will send
• 3:32:37
  him here tomorrow, I will attend to the hoof, and I will direct
• 3:32:41
  your man how to apply the liniment which I will give him the next day,
• 3:32:48
  I had my feet thoroughly cleansed and stuffed with tow soaked in some strong
• 3:32:52
  lotion, and an unpleasant business it was. The farrier ordered all the litter
• 3:32:58
  to be taken out of my box day by day, and the floor kept
• 3:33:01
  very clean. Then I was to have bran mashes, a little green food,
• 3:33:07
  and not so much corn till my feet were well again. With this
• 3:33:13
  treatment, I soon regained my spirits. But mister Barry was so much disgusted
• 3:33:18
  at being twice deceived by his grooms, that he determined to give up keeping
• 3:33:24
  a horse, and to hire when he wanted one. I was therefore kept
• 3:33:28
  till my feet were quite sound, and was then sold again end of chapter
• 3:33:37
  thirty one, Chapter thirty two. A horse fair, no doubt, a
• 3:33:45
  horse fair is a very amusing place to those who have nothing to lose.
• 3:33:50
  At any rate, there is plenty to see, long strings of young horses
• 3:33:54
  out of the country fresh from the marshes, and droves of shaggy little Welsh
• 3:34:00
  ponies no higher than merrylegs, and hundreds of cart horses of all sorts,
• 3:34:05
  some with their long tails braided up and tied with a scarlet cord and a
• 3:34:11
  good, many like myself, handsome and high bred, but fallen into middle
• 3:34:16
  class through some accident or blemish, unsoundness of wind, or some other complaint.
• 3:34:22
  There were some splendid animals, quite in their prime and fit for anything.
• 3:34:28
  They were throwing out their legs and showing off their paces in high style
• 3:34:33
  as they were trotted out with a leading rein the groom, running by the
• 3:34:37
  side, but round in the background. There were a number of poor things,
• 3:34:43
  sadly broken down with hard work, with their knees knuckling over and their
• 3:34:48
  hind legs swinging out at every step. And there were some very dejected looking
• 3:34:52
  old horses, with the underlip hanging down and the ears lying back heavily,
• 3:34:58
  as if there were no more pleasure in life, and no more hope.
• 3:35:03
  There were some so thin you might see all their ribs, and some with
• 3:35:07
  old sores on their backs and hips. These were sad sights for a horse
• 3:35:11
  to look upon, who knows not, but he might come to the same
• 3:35:15
  state. There was a great deal of bargaining, of running up and beating
• 3:35:20
  down. And if a horse may speak his mind, so far as he
• 3:35:24
  understands, I should say there were more lies told, and more trickery at
• 3:35:28
  that horse fair than a clever man could give account of. I was put
• 3:35:33
  with two or three other strong, useful looking horses, and a good many
• 3:35:39
  people came to look at us. The gentlemen always turned from me when they
• 3:35:43
  saw my broken knees, though the man who had me swore it was only
• 3:35:48
  a slip in the stall. The first thing was to pull my mouth open,
• 3:35:52
  then look at my eyes, then feel all the way down my legs
• 3:35:56
  and give me a hard feel of the skin and flesh, and then try
• 3:36:01
  my paces. It was wonderful what a difference there was in the way these
• 3:36:05
  things were done. Some did it in a rough, off handed way,
• 3:36:09
  as if as if one was only a piece of wood, while others would
• 3:36:13
  take their hands gently over one's body with a pat now and then as much
• 3:36:18
  as to say, by your leave, of course. I judged a good
• 3:36:22
  deal of the buyers by their manners. To myself. There was one man
• 3:36:28
  I thought, if he would buy me, I should be happy. He
• 3:36:31
  was not a gentleman, nor yet one of the loud, flashy sort that
• 3:36:37
  called themselves so. He was rather a small man, but well made and
• 3:36:41
  quick in all his motions. I knew in a moment by the way he
• 3:36:46
  handled me that he was used to horses. He spoke gently, and his
• 3:36:50
  gray eye had a kind, cheery look in it. It may seem strange
• 3:36:56
  to say, but it was true all the same that the clean, fresh
• 3:37:00
  smell there was about him made me take to him. No smell of old
• 3:37:05
  beer and tobacco, which I hated, but a fresh smell, as if
• 3:37:09
  he had come out of a hayloft. He offered twenty three pounds for me,
• 3:37:13
  but that was refused and he walked away. I looked after him,
• 3:37:18
  but he was gone, and a very hard looking, loud voiced man came.
• 3:37:24
  I was dreadfully afraid that he would have me, but he walked off.
• 3:37:28
  One or two more came who did not mean business. Then the hard
• 3:37:33
  faced man came back again and offered twenty three pounds. A very close bargain
• 3:37:39
  was being driven for. My salesman began to think he should not get all
• 3:37:43
  he asked and must come down. But just then the gray eyed man came
• 3:37:50
  back again. I could not help reaching out my head toward him. He
• 3:37:54
  stroked my face kindly. Well, old chap, he said, I think,
• 3:38:00
  and we should suit each other. I'll give twenty four for him.
• 3:38:03
  Say twenty five, and you shall have him. Twenty four ten, said
• 3:38:07
  my friend in a very decided tone, and not another sixpence. Yes or
• 3:38:13
  no, done, said the salesman, And you may depend upon it.
• 3:38:18
  There's a monstrous deal of quality in that horse, and if you want him
• 3:38:22
  for cab work, he is a bargain. The money was paid on the
• 3:38:26
  spot, and my new master took my halter and led me out of the
• 3:38:31
  fair to an inn, where he had a saddle and bridle ready. He
• 3:38:35
  gave me a good feed of oats and stood by while I ate it,
• 3:38:39
  talking to himself and talking to me. Half an hour after we were on
• 3:38:45
  our way to London, through pleasant lanes and country roads till we came into
• 3:38:50
  the Great London Thoroughfare, on which we traveled steadily till in the twilight we
• 3:38:56
  reached the great city. The gas lamps were already lighted. There were streets
• 3:39:01
  to the right and streets to the left, and streets crossing each other for
• 3:39:07
  mile upon mile. I thought we should never come to the end of them.
• 3:39:11
  At last, in passing through one, we came to a long cab
• 3:39:15
  stand, where my rider called out in a cheery voice. Good night,
• 3:39:20
  governor, halloo, cried a voice. Have you got a good one?
• 3:39:24
  I think so, replied my owner. I wish you luck with him,
• 3:39:28
  Thank you, governor, and he rode on. We soon turned up one
• 3:39:33
  of the side streets, and about half way up that we turned into a
• 3:39:37
  very narrow street, with rather poor looking houses on one side and what seemed
• 3:39:43
  to be coach houses and stables on the other. My owner pulled up at
• 3:39:48
  one of the houses and whistled. The door flew open. A young woman,
• 3:39:52
  followed by a little girl and boy, ran out. There was a
• 3:39:56
  very lively greeting as my rider dismounted. Now, then harry my boy,
• 3:40:01
  open the gates, and mother will bring us the lantern. The next minute
• 3:40:05
  they were all standing around me in a small stable yard. Is he gentle
• 3:40:11
  father, Yes, Dolly, as gentle as your own kitten. Come and
• 3:40:16
  pat him at once. The little hand was patting about all over my shoulder
• 3:40:20
  without fear. How good it felt. Let me get him a bran mash
• 3:40:26
  while you rub him down, said the mother. Do Polly, it's just
• 3:40:31
  what he wants. And I know you've got a beautiful mash ready for me.
• 3:40:35
  Sausage dumpling and apple turnover, shouted the boy, which set them all
• 3:40:41
  laughing. I was led into a comfortable, clean smelling stall with plenty of
• 3:40:46
  dry straw, and after a and after a capital supper, I lay down
• 3:40:52
  thinking I was going to be happy. End of Chapter thirty two. Chapter
• 3:41:00
  thirty three. A London cab horse, Jeremiah Barker was my new master's name,
• 3:41:07
  but as every one called him Jerry, I shall do the same.
• 3:41:11
  Polly. His wife was just as good a match as a man could have.
• 3:41:15
  She was a plump, trim, tidy little woman with smooth dark hair,
• 3:41:20
  dark eyes, and a merry little mouth. The boy was twelve years
• 3:41:24
  old, a tall, frank, good tempered lad, and little Dorothy Dolly
• 3:41:28
  they called her, was her mother over again and eight years old. They
• 3:41:33
  were all wonderfully fond of each other. I never knew such a happy,
• 3:41:39
  merry family before or since. Jerry had a cab of his own and two
• 3:41:43
  horses, which he drove and attended to himself. His other horse was a
• 3:41:48
  tall, white, rather large boned animal called Captain. He was old now,
• 3:41:54
  but when he was young he must have been splendid. He had still
• 3:41:58
  a proud way of holding his head and arching his neck. In fact,
• 3:42:01
  he was a high bred, fine mannered, noble old horse, every inch
• 3:42:07
  of him. He told me that in his early youth he went off to
• 3:42:09
  the Crimean War. He belonged to an officer in the cavalry and used to
• 3:42:15
  lead the regiment. I will tell more of that hereafter the next morning,
• 3:42:20
  when I was well groomed, Polly and Dolly came into the yard to see
• 3:42:24
  me and make friends. Harry had been helping his father since the early morning,
• 3:42:30
  and had stated his opinion that I should turn out a regular brick.
• 3:42:33
  Polly brought me a slice of apple, and Dolly a piece of bread,
• 3:42:37
  and made as much of me as if I had been the black beauty of
• 3:42:41
  olden time. It was a great treat to be petted again and talked to
• 3:42:45
  in a gentle voice. And I let them see as well as I could
• 3:42:48
  that I wished to be friendly. Polly thought I was very handsome and a
• 3:42:54
  great deal too good for a cab if it was not for the broken knees.
• 3:42:58
  Of course, there's no one to tell us whose fault that was,
• 3:43:01
  said Jerry, And as long as I don't know, I shall give him
• 3:43:05
  the benefit of the doubt for a firmer neater stepper I never rode. We'll
• 3:43:09
  call him Jack after the old one, shall we polly do? She said,
• 3:43:15
  for I like to keep a good name going. Captain went out in
• 3:43:18
  the cab all morning. Here he came in after school to feed me and
• 3:43:22
  give me water. In the afternoon I was put into the cab. Jerry
• 3:43:28
  took as much pains to see if the collar and bridle fitted comfortably, as
• 3:43:31
  if he had been John Manly over again. When the crupper was let out
• 3:43:35
  a hole or two, it all fitted well. There was no check rein,
• 3:43:39
  no curb, nothing but a plain ring snaffle. What a blessing that
• 3:43:45
  was. After driving through the side street we came to the large cab stand
• 3:43:50
  where Jerry had said good night. On one side of this wide street were
• 3:43:54
  high houses with wonderful shop fronts, and on the other was an old old
• 3:44:00
  church and churchyard surrounded by iron palisades. Alongside these iron rails, a number
• 3:44:05
  of cabs were drawn up waiting for passengers. Bits of hay were lying about
• 3:44:11
  on the ground. Some of the men were standing together talking, some were
• 3:44:16
  sitting on their boxes reading the newspaper, and one or two were feeding their
• 3:44:20
  horses with bits of hay and giving them a drink of water. We pulled
• 3:44:24
  up in the rank at the back of the last cab. Two or three
• 3:44:26
  men came round and began to look at me and pass their remarks. Very
• 3:44:31
  good for a funeral, said one. Two smart looking, said another,
• 3:44:35
  shaking his head in a very wise way. You'll find out something wrong one
• 3:44:39
  of these fine mornings. Or my name isn't Jones, Well, said Jerry
• 3:44:43
  pleasantly. I suppose I need not to find it out till it finds me
• 3:44:48
  out, eh, And if so, I'll keep my spirits a little longer.
• 3:44:52
  Then there came up a broad faced man, dressed in a great gray
• 3:44:56
  coat with great gray cape and great white button, a gray hat and a
• 3:45:01
  blue comforter loosely tied round his neck. His hair was gray too, but
• 3:45:05
  he was a jolly looking fellow, and the other men made way for him.
• 3:45:09
  He looked me all over as if he had been going to buy me,
• 3:45:13
  and then straightening himself up with a grunt, he said, he's the
• 3:45:16
  right sort for you, Jerry. I don't care what you gave for him,
• 3:45:20
  he'll be worth it. Thus my character was established on the stand.
• 3:45:26
  This man's name was Grant, but he was called Gray Grant, or Governor
• 3:45:30
  Grant. He had been the longest on that stand of any of the men,
• 3:45:33
  and he took it upon himself to settle matters and stop disputes. He
• 3:45:37
  was generally a good humored, sensible ma'am. But if his temper was a
• 3:45:41
  little out, as it sometimes was when he had drunk too much, nobody
• 3:45:46
  liked to come too near his fist, for he could deal a very heavy
• 3:45:50
  blow. The first week if my life as a cab horse was very trying.
• 3:45:56
  I had never been used to London, and the noise, the hurry,
• 3:45:58
  the crowds of horses, carts and carriages that I had to make my
• 3:46:03
  way through made me feel anxious and harassed. But I soon found I could
• 3:46:07
  perfectly trust my driver, and then I made myself easy and got used to
• 3:46:11
  it. Jerry was as good a driver as I had ever known, and
• 3:46:16
  what was better, he took as much thought for his horses as he did
• 3:46:20
  for himself. He soon found out that I was willing to work and do
• 3:46:24
  my best, and he never laid the whip on me unless it was gently
• 3:46:28
  drawing the end of it over my back when I was to go on.
• 3:46:31
  But generally I knew this quite well by the way in which he took up
• 3:46:35
  the reins, and I believe his whip was more frequently struck up by his
• 3:46:39
  side than in his hand. In a short time, I and my master
• 3:46:43
  understood each other as well as horse and man can do. In the stable,
• 3:46:48
  too, he did all that he could for our comfort. The stalls
• 3:46:52
  were the old fashioned style, too much on the slope, but he had
• 3:46:56
  two movable bars fixed across the back of our stalls. At night, when
• 3:47:00
  we were resting, he just took off our halters and put up the bars,
• 3:47:03
  and thus we could turn about and stand whichever way we pleased, which
• 3:47:07
  is a great comfort. Jerry kept us very clean and gave us as much
• 3:47:13
  change of food as he could, and always plenty of it. And not
• 3:47:16
  only that, but he always gave us plenty of clean fresh water, which
• 3:47:20
  he allowed to stand by us both night and day, except of course,
• 3:47:24
  when we came in warm. Some people say that a horse ought not to
• 3:47:28
  drink all he likes, But I know if we are allowed to drink when
• 3:47:31
  we want it, we drink only a little at a time, and it
• 3:47:35
  does us a great deal more good than swallowing down half a bucketful at a
• 3:47:39
  time, because we have been left without till we are thirsty and miserable.
• 3:47:43
  Some grooms will go home to their beer and leave us for hours with our
• 3:47:48
  dry hay and oats and nothing to moisten them. Then, of course we
• 3:47:52
  gulped down too much at once, which helps to spoil our breathing and sometimes
• 3:47:56
  chills our stomachs. But the best thing we had here was our sundays for
• 3:48:01
  rest. We worked so hard in the week that I do not think we
• 3:48:05
  could have kept up to it, but for that day. Besides, we
• 3:48:09
  had then time to enjoy each other's company. It was on those days that
• 3:48:13
  I learned my companion's history. End of chapter thirty three, Chapter thirty four.
• 3:48:20
  An old war horse captain had been broken in and trained for an army
• 3:48:28
  horse. His first owner was an officer of cavalry going out to the Crimean
• 3:48:33
  War. He said he quite enjoyed the training, with all the other horses
• 3:48:39
  trotting together, turning together to the right hand or to the left, halting
• 3:48:43
  at the word of command, or dashing forward at full speed at the sound
• 3:48:46
  of the trumpet or signal. Of the officer. He was when young,
• 3:48:50
  a dark dappled iron gray, and considered very handsome. His master, a
• 3:48:58
  young, high spirited gentleman, was very fond of him, and treated him
• 3:49:01
  from the first with the greatest care and kindness. He told me he thought
• 3:49:07
  the life of an army horse was very pleasant, but when he came to
• 3:49:09
  being sent abroad over the sea in a great ship, he almost changed his
• 3:49:15
  mind. That part of it, said, he was dreadful. Of course,
• 3:49:20
  we could not walk off the land into the ship, so they were
• 3:49:22
  obliged to put strong straps under our bodies, and then we were lifted off
• 3:49:26
  our legs in spite of our struggles, and were swung through the air over
• 3:49:31
  the water to the deck of the great vessel. There we were placed in
• 3:49:35
  small, close stalls, and never for a long time saw the sky or
• 3:49:39
  were able to stretch our legs. The ship sometimes rolled about in high winds,
• 3:49:46
  and we were knocked about and felt bad enough. However, at last
• 3:49:50
  it came to an end, and we were hauled up and swung over again
• 3:49:54
  to the land. We were very glad and snorted and neighed for joy when
• 3:49:58
  we once more fell firm ground under our feet. We soon found that the
• 3:50:03
  country we had come to was very different to our own, and that we
• 3:50:07
  had many hardships to endure besides the fighting. But many of the men were
• 3:50:13
  so fond of their horses that they did everything they could to make them comfortable
• 3:50:18
  in spite of snow, wet and all things out of order. But what
• 3:50:22
  about the fighting, said I, Was that not worse than anything else?
• 3:50:28
  Well, said he, I hardly know. We always liked to hear the
• 3:50:31
  trumpets sound and to be called out, and were impatient to start off,
• 3:50:37
  though sometimes we had to stand for hours waiting for the word of command,
• 3:50:41
  And when the word was given, we used to spring forward as gaily and
• 3:50:45
  eagerly as if there were no cannon balls, bayonets, or bullets. I
• 3:50:50
  believe, so long as we felt our rider firm in the saddle and his
• 3:50:52
  hands steady on the bridle, not one of us gave way to fear,
• 3:50:58
  not even when the terrible bomb shells were whirled through the air and burst into
• 3:51:01
  a thousand pieces. I, with my noble master, went into many actions
• 3:51:07
  together without a wound. And though I saw horses shot down with bullets,
• 3:51:11
  pierced through with lances, and gashed with fearful saber cuts. Though we left
• 3:51:16
  them dead on the field or dying in the agony of their wounds, I
• 3:51:20
  don't think I feared for myself. My master's cheery voice as he encouraged his
• 3:51:26
  men made me feel as if he and I could not be killed. I
• 3:51:31
  had such perfect trust in him that whilst he was guiding me, I was
• 3:51:35
  ready to charge up to the very cannon's mouth. I saw many brave men
• 3:51:39
  cut down, many fall mortally wounded from their saddles. I had heard the
• 3:51:46
  cries and groans of the dying. I had cantered over ground, slippery with
• 3:51:50
  blood, and frequently had to turn aside to avoid trampling on wounded man or
• 3:51:54
  horse. But until one dreadful day, I had never felt terror. That
• 3:52:01
  day. I shall never forget here. Old captain paused for a while and
• 3:52:07
  drew a long breath. I waited, and he went on. It was
• 3:52:13
  one autumn morning, and as usual, an hour before daybreak, our cavalry
• 3:52:18
  had turned out, ready comparison for the day's work, whether it might be
• 3:52:22
  fighting or waiting. The men stood by their horses, waiting, ready for
• 3:52:28
  orders. As the light increased, there seemed to be some excitement among the
• 3:52:33
  officers, and before the day was well begun, we heard the firing of
• 3:52:37
  the enemy's guns. Then one of the officers rode up and gave the word
• 3:52:41
  for the men to mount, And in a second every man was in his
• 3:52:46
  saddle, and every horse stood expecting the touch of the rain or the pressure
• 3:52:50
  of his rider's heels, all animated, all eager. But still we had
• 3:52:54
  been trained so well that except by the chomping of our bits and the rest
• 3:52:58
  of tossing of our heads from time to time, it could not be said
• 3:53:01
  that we stirred. My dear master and I were at the head of the
• 3:53:07
  line, and as all sat motionless and watchful, he took a little stray
• 3:53:11
  lock of my mane, which had turned over on the wrong side, laid
• 3:53:15
  it over on the right, and smoothed it down with his hand. Then,
• 3:53:20
  patting my neck, he said, we shall have a day of it
• 3:53:22
  to day bared my beauty, but we'll do our duty as we have done.
• 3:53:28
  He stroked my neck that morning, more I think than he had ever
• 3:53:31
  done before, quietly on and on, as if he were thinking of something
• 3:53:35
  else. I loved to feel his hand on my neck, and arched my
• 3:53:39
  crest proudly and happily. But I stood very still, for I knew all
• 3:53:46
  his moods, and when he liked me to be quiet, and when gay.
• 3:53:52
  I cannot tell all that happened on that day, but I will tell
• 3:53:54
  of the last charge that we made together. It was across a valley,
• 3:54:00
  right in front of the enemy's cannon. By this time we were well used
• 3:54:03
  to the roar of heavy guns, the rattle of musket fire, and the
• 3:54:07
  flying of shot near us. But never had I been under such a fire
• 3:54:11
  as we rode through on that day. From the right, from the left,
• 3:54:16
  and from the front, shot and shell poured in upon us. Many
• 3:54:20
  a brave man went down, Many a horse fell, flinging his rider to
• 3:54:24
  the earth. Many a horse without a rider ran wildly out of the ranks,
• 3:54:28
  then, terrified at being alone with no hand to guide him, came
• 3:54:33
  pressing in amongst his old companions to gallop with them to the charge. Fearful
• 3:54:39
  as it was. No one stopped, no one turned back. Every moment
• 3:54:43
  the ranks were thinned. But as our comrades fell, we closed in to
• 3:54:46
  keep them together, And instead of being shaken or staggered in our pace,
• 3:54:50
  our gallop became faster and faster as we neared the cannon, all clouded in
• 3:54:56
  white smoke, while the red fire flashed through it. My master, my
• 3:55:01
  dear master, was cheering on his comrades with his right arm raised on high,
• 3:55:07
  when one of the balls, whizzing close to my head struck him.
• 3:55:11
  I felt him stagger with the shock, though he uttered no cry. I
• 3:55:16
  tried to check my speed, but the sword dropped from his right hand.
• 3:55:20
  The rein fell loose from the left, and sinking backward from the saddle,
• 3:55:24
  he fell to the earth. The other riders swept past us, and by
• 3:55:28
  the force of their charge, I was driven from the spot where he fell.
• 3:55:33
  I wanted to keep my place by his side and not leave him under
• 3:55:37
  that rush of horses feet, but it was in vain, and now without
• 3:55:41
  a master or a friend, I was alone on that great slaughter ground.
• 3:55:46
  Then fear took hold on me, and I trembled as I had never trembled
• 3:55:50
  before. And I, too, as I had seen other horses do,
• 3:55:54
  tried to join the ranks and gallop with them, but I was beaten off
• 3:55:58
  by the swords of the soldiers. Just then, a soldier whose horse had
• 3:56:03
  been killed under him, caught at my bridle and mounted me. And with
• 3:56:05
  this new master I was again going forward. But our gallant company was cruelly
• 3:56:11
  overpowered, and those who remained alive after the fierce fight for the guns came
• 3:56:16
  galloping back over the same ground. Some of the horses had been so badly
• 3:56:20
  wounded that they could scarcely move from the loss of blood. Other noble creatures
• 3:56:26
  were trying on three legs to drag themselves along, and others were struggling to
• 3:56:31
  rise on their fore feet when their hind legs had been shattered by shot.
• 3:56:37
  Their groans were piteous to hear, and the beseeching look in their eyes as
• 3:56:41
  those who escaped passed by and left them to their fate. I shall never
• 3:56:45
  forget. After the battle, the wounded men were brought in, and the
• 3:56:50
  dead were buried. And what about the wounded horses, I said, were
• 3:56:56
  they left to die? No? The army farriers went over the field with
• 3:57:00
  their pistols and shot all that were ruined. Some that had only slight wounds
• 3:57:05
  were brought back and attended to. But the greater part of the noble,
• 3:57:09
  willing creatures that went out that morning never came back. In our stables.
• 3:57:13
  There was only about one in four that returned. I never saw my dear
• 3:57:20
  master again. I believe he fell dead from my saddle. I never loved
• 3:57:24
  any other master so well. I went into many other engagements, but was
• 3:57:30
  only once wounded, and then not seriously. And when the war was over
• 3:57:35
  I came back again to England as sound and strong as when I went out.
• 3:57:41
  I said, I have heard people talk about war as if it was
• 3:57:43
  a very fine thing. Ah, said he. I should think they never
• 3:57:48
  saw it. No doubt. It is very fine when there is no enemy,
• 3:57:52
  when it is just exercise and parade and sham fight. Yes, it
• 3:57:58
  is very fine then, But when thousands of good, brave men and horses
• 3:58:01
  are killed or crippled for life, it has a very different look. Do
• 3:58:07
  you know what they thought about? Said I? No. He said,
• 3:58:11
  that is more than a horse can understand. But the enemy must have been
• 3:58:16
  awfully wicked people if it was right to go all that way over the sea
• 3:58:18
  on purpose to kill them. End of Chapter thirty four, Chapter thirty five
• 3:58:30
  Jerry Barker, I never knew a better man than my new master. He
• 3:58:37
  was kind and good and as strong for the right as John manly and so
• 3:58:41
  good tempered and merry that very few people could pick a quarrel with him.
• 3:58:46
  He was very fond of making little songs and singing them to himself. One
• 3:58:52
  he was very fond of was this, Come father and mother, and sister
• 3:58:58
  and brother. Come you turn to and help one another. And so they
• 3:59:03
  did. Harry was as clever at stable work as a much older boy,
• 3:59:09
  and always wanted to do what he could. Then Polly and Dolly used to
• 3:59:13
  come in the morning to help with the cab, to brush and beat the
• 3:59:16
  cushions and rub the glass. While Jerry was giving us a cleaning in the
• 3:59:20
  yard and Harry was rubbing the harness, there used to be a great deal
• 3:59:26
  of laughing and fun between them, and it put Captain and me in much
• 3:59:30
  better spirits than if we had heard scolding and hard words. They were always
• 3:59:35
  early in the morning, for Jerry would say, if you in the morning
• 3:59:39
  throw minutes away, you can't pick them up in the course of the day.
• 3:59:43
  You may hurry and scurry and flurry and worry you've lost them forever forever.
• 3:59:48
  And aye. He could not bear any careless loitering and waste of time,
• 3:59:56
  And nothing was so near, making him angry as to find people who
• 3:59:58
  were You're always late, wanting a cab horse to be driven hard to make
• 4:00:03
  up for their idleness. One day, two wild looking young men came out
• 4:00:09
  of a tavern close by the stand and called Jerry here, Cabby, look
• 4:00:13
  sharp, we are rather late. Put on the steam, will you and
• 4:00:18
  take us to the Victoria in time for the one o'clock train. You shall
• 4:00:20
  have a shilling extra. I will take you at the regular pace, gentlemen.
• 4:00:26
  Shillings don't pay for putting on the steam like that. Larry's cab was
• 4:00:31
  standing next to ours. He flung open the door and said, I'm your
• 4:00:35
  man, gentlemen, take my cab. My horse will get you there all
• 4:00:39
  right, And as he shut them in with a wink towards Jerry said it's
• 4:00:45
  against his conscience to go beyond a jog trot. Then, slashing his jaded
• 4:00:50
  horse, he set off as hard as he could. Jerry patted me on
• 4:00:54
  the neck. No, jack, A shilling would not pay for that sort
• 4:00:58
  of thing, would it, old boy. Although Jerry was determinedly set against
• 4:01:05
  hard driving to please careless people, he always went a good fair pace and
• 4:01:09
  was not against putting on the steam, as he said, if only he
• 4:01:13
  knew why. I well remember one morning, as we were on the stand
• 4:01:18
  waiting for a fare, that a young man carrying a heavy portmanteau trod on
• 4:01:24
  a piece of orange peel which lay on the pavement, and fell down with
• 4:01:26
  great force. Jerry was the first to run and lift him up. He
• 4:01:33
  seemed much stunned, and as they led him into a shop, he walked
• 4:01:37
  as if he were in great pain. Jerry, of course came back to
• 4:01:41
  the stand, but in about ten minutes one of the shopmen called him,
• 4:01:45
  so he drew up to the pavement. Can you take me to the Southeastern
• 4:01:50
  Railway? Said the young man? This unlucky fall has made me late,
• 4:01:54
  I fear, but it is of great importance that I should not lose the
• 4:01:58
  twelve o'clock train. I should be most thankful if you could get me there
• 4:02:01
  in time, and will gladly pay you an extra fare. I'll do my
• 4:02:07
  very best, said Jerry heartily, if you think you are well enough,
• 4:02:11
  sir, for he looked dreadfully white and ill. I must go, he
• 4:02:16
  said earnestly. Please to open the door and let us lose no time.
• 4:02:22
  The next minute Jerry was on the box with a cheery chirrup to me and
• 4:02:26
  a twitch of the rein that I well understood. Now, then Jack my
• 4:02:31
  boy said he spin along. We'll show them how we can get over the
• 4:02:35
  ground, if we only know why. It is always difficult to drive fast
• 4:02:41
  in the city in the middle of the day, when the streets are full
• 4:02:43
  of traffic. But we did what could be done. And when a good
• 4:02:48
  driver and a good horse who understand each other are of one mind, it
• 4:02:52
  is wonderful what they can do. I had a very good mouth. That
• 4:02:58
  is, I could be guided by the slightest touch of the rain, and
• 4:03:01
  that is a great thing. In London, amongst carriages, omnibuses, carts,
• 4:03:07
  vans, trucks, cabs and great wagons creeping along at a walking pace,
• 4:03:11
  some going one way, some another, some going slowly, others wanting
• 4:03:16
  to pass them. Omnibus is stopping short every few minutes to take up a
• 4:03:20
  passenger, obliging the horse that is coming behind to pull up too, or
• 4:03:24
  to pass and get before them. Perhaps you try to pass, but just
• 4:03:28
  then something else comes dashing in through the narrow opening, and you have to
• 4:03:31
  keep in behind the omnibus again. Presently you think you see a chance and
• 4:03:37
  manage to get to the front, going so near the wheels on each side
• 4:03:41
  that half an inch nearer and they would scrape. Well. You get along
• 4:03:43
  for a bit, but soon find yourself in a long train of carts and
• 4:03:48
  carriages, all obliged to go at a walk. Perhaps you come to a
• 4:03:52
  regular block up and have to stand still for minutes together till something clears out
• 4:03:56
  into a side street or the policeman interferes. You have to be ready for
• 4:04:01
  any chance to dash forward if there be an opening, and be quick as
• 4:04:05
  a rat dog to see if there be room, and if there be time,
• 4:04:07
  lest you get your own wheels locked or smashed, or the shaft of
• 4:04:11
  some other vehicle run into your chest or shoulder. All this is what you
• 4:04:16
  have to be ready for. If you want to get through London fast in
• 4:04:20
  the middle of the day. It wants a deal of practice. Jerry and
• 4:04:24
  I were used to it, and no one could beat us at getting through
• 4:04:28
  when we were set upon it. I was quick and bold and could always
• 4:04:31
  trust my driver. Jerry was quick and patient at the same time, and
• 4:04:37
  could trust his horse, which was a great thing too. He very seldom
• 4:04:41
  used the whip. I knew by his voice and his click click when he
• 4:04:46
  wanted to get on fast, and by the rein where I was to go,
• 4:04:48
  so there was no need for whipping. But I must go back to
• 4:04:52
  my story. The streets were very full that day, but we got on
• 4:04:58
  pretty well as far as the bottom of Cheapside, where there was a block
• 4:05:01
  for three or four minutes. The young man put his head out and said
• 4:05:05
  anxiously, I think I had better get out and walk. I shall never
• 4:05:09
  get there if this goes on. I'll do all that can be done,
• 4:05:13
  sir, said Jerry. I think we shall be in time. This block
• 4:05:18
  up cannot last much longer, and your luggage is very heavy for you to
• 4:05:20
  carry, sir. Just then the cart in front of us began to move
• 4:05:26
  on, and then we had a good turn in and out, In and
• 4:05:30
  out we went as fast as horse flesh could do. And for a wonder
• 4:05:33
  we had a good clear time on London Bridge, for there was a whole
• 4:05:37
  train of cabs and carriages all going our way at a quick trot, perhaps
• 4:05:41
  wanting to catch that very train. At any rate, we whirled into the
• 4:05:46
  station with many more, just as the Great clock pointed to eight minutes to
• 4:05:50
  twelve o'clock. Thank god, we are in time, said the young man.
• 4:05:56
  And thank you too, my friend, and your good horse. You
• 4:06:01
  have saved me more than money can ever pay for. Take this extra half
• 4:06:05
  crown, no, sir, no, thank you all the same. So
• 4:06:09
  glad we hit the time, sir. But don't stay now, sir.
• 4:06:13
  The bell is ringing. Here, porter, take this gentleman's luggage dover line
• 4:06:16
  twelve o'clock train. That's it, And without waiting for another word, Jerry
• 4:06:22
  wheeled me round to make room for the other cabs that were dashing up at
• 4:06:24
  the last minute, and drew up on one side till the crush was past.
• 4:06:30
  So glad, he said, So glad, poor young fellow. I
• 4:06:35
  wonder what it was that made him so anxious. Jerry often talked to himself,
• 4:06:39
  quite loud enough for me to hear when we were not moving. On
• 4:06:43
  Jerry's return to the rank, there was a good deal of laughing and chafing
• 4:06:48
  at him for driving hard to the train for an extra fare, as they
• 4:06:50
  said, all against his principles, and they wanted to know how much he
• 4:06:56
  had pocketed, a good deal more than I generally get, said he,
• 4:07:00
  nodding slyly. What he gave me will keep me in little comforts for several
• 4:07:05
  days, Gammon said one. He's a humbug, said another, preaching to
• 4:07:11
  us, and then doing the same himself. Look here, mates, said
• 4:07:16
  Jerry. The gentleman offered me half a crown extra, but I didn't take
• 4:07:20
  it. Twas quite pay enough for me to see how glad he was to
• 4:07:24
  catch that train. And if Jack and I choose to have a quick run
• 4:07:28
  now and then to please ourselves, that's our business and not yours, well,
• 4:07:35
  said Larry. You'll never be a rich man, most likely not,
• 4:07:39
  said Jerry. But I don't know that I shall be the less happy for
• 4:07:43
  that. I have heard the commandments read a great many times, and I
• 4:07:48
  never noticed that any of them said thou shalt be rich. And there are
• 4:07:52
  a good many curious things said in the New Testament about rich men that I
• 4:07:58
  think would make me feel rather queer if I was one of them. If
• 4:08:03
  you ever do get rich, said Governor Gray, looking over his shoulder across
• 4:08:07
  the top of his cab. You'll deserve it, Jerry, and you won't
• 4:08:11
  find a curse come with your wealth. As for you, Larry, you'll
• 4:08:16
  die poor. You spend too much in whipcord. Well, said Larry,
• 4:08:22
  What is a fellow to do if his horse won't go without it? You
• 4:08:26
  never take the trouble to see if he'll go without it. Your whip is
• 4:08:30
  always going as if you had the Saint Vitus's dance in your arm. And
• 4:08:33
  if it does not wear you out, it wears your horse out. You
• 4:08:37
  know you are always changing horses, and why because you never give them any
• 4:08:43
  peace or encouragement. Well, I have not had good luck, said Larry.
• 4:08:48
  That's where it is, and you never will, said the governor.
• 4:08:54
  Good Luck is rather particular who she rides with, and mostly prefers those who
• 4:08:58
  have got common sense and a good heart. At least that is my experience.
• 4:09:05
  Governor Gray turned round again to his newspaper, and the other men went
• 4:09:09
  to their cabs. End of Chapter thirty five, Chapter thirty six, the
• 4:09:18
  Sunday Cab. One morning, as Jerry had just put me into the shafts
• 4:09:26
  and was fastening the traces, a gentleman walked into the yard. Your servant,
• 4:09:31
  sir, said Jerry. Good morning. Mister Barker said the gentleman.
• 4:09:37
  I should be glad to make some arrangements with you for taking missus Briggs regularly
• 4:09:41
  to church on Sunday mornings. We go to the new church now, and
• 4:09:46
  that is rather further than she can walk. Thank you, sir, said
• 4:09:50
  Jerry. But I only have taken out a six days license, and therefore
• 4:09:56
  I could not take affair on a Sunday. It would not be legal.
• 4:10:01
  A few years since the annual charge for a cab license was very much reduced
• 4:10:07
  and the difference between the six and seven day cabs was abolished. Oh,
• 4:10:13
  said the other. I did not know yours was a six days cab.
• 4:10:18
  But of course it would be easy to alter your license. I would see
• 4:10:22
  that you did not lose by it. The fact is Missus Briggs much prefers
• 4:10:28
  you to drive her. I should be glad to oblige this, ladies,
• 4:10:33
  sir. But I had a seven day license once and the work was too
• 4:10:37
  hard for me and too hard for my horses. Ye're in and year out,
• 4:10:43
  not a day's rest, and never a Sunday with my wife and children,
• 4:10:48
  never able to go to a place of worship, which I had always
• 4:10:52
  been used to do before I took to the driving box. So for the
• 4:10:58
  last five years, I have only taken a six days license, and I
• 4:11:03
  find it better all the way around. Well, of course, replied mister
• 4:11:09
  Briggs. It is very proper that every person should have rest and be able
• 4:11:15
  to go to church on Sundays. But I should have thought you would not
• 4:11:18
  have minds at such a short distance for the horse, and only once a
• 4:11:22
  day, you would have all the afternoon and evening for yourself. And we
• 4:11:28
  are very good customers, you know. Yes, that is true, and
• 4:11:33
  I am grateful for all favors, I am sure, and anything that I
• 4:11:37
  could do to oblige you or the lady, I should be proud and happy
• 4:11:41
  to do. But I can't give up my Sunday, sir, Indeed I
• 4:11:46
  can't. I read that God made man, and he made horses and all
• 4:11:54
  the other beasts, and as soon as he made them, he made a
• 4:11:58
  dayDay of rest and bade that all should rest one day and seven. I
• 4:12:05
  think, sir, he must have known what was good for them, and
• 4:12:09
  I'm sure it is good for me. I am stronger, unhealthier altogether now
• 4:12:13
  that I have a day of rest. The horses are fresh show we do
• 4:12:18
  not wear up nearly so fast. The six day drivers all tell me the
• 4:12:24
  same. I have laid by more money in the savings bank than I ever
• 4:12:30
  did before. And as for the wife and children, sure, why heart
• 4:12:35
  alive? They would not go back to the seven days for all they could
• 4:12:41
  see. Oh very well, said the gentleman. Don't trouble yourself, mister
• 4:12:46
  Barker anymore. I will inquire somewhere else, and he walked away. Well,
• 4:12:52
  says Jerry to me. We can't help it, jack o boy.
• 4:12:56
  We must have our sundays. Polly, he shout, Polly, come here.
• 4:13:01
  She was there in a minute. What is it all about, Jerry?
• 4:13:05
  Why my dear mister Briggs wants me to take Missus Briggs to church every
• 4:13:11
  Sunday. I say, I have only a six day license. He says,
• 4:13:16
  good, the seventh day license, and I will make it worth your
• 4:13:20
  while. And you don't, Polly. They are very good customers to us.
• 4:13:26
  Missus Briggs often goes out chopping for hours or megs calls, and then
• 4:13:33
  she pays down fair and honorable, like a lady. There's no beating down
• 4:13:37
  or working three hours into two hours and a half as some people do.
• 4:13:41
  And it is easy work for the horses, not like tearing along to catch
• 4:13:48
  trains for people that are always a quarter of an hour too late. And
• 4:13:52
  if I don't oblige her in this manner, it is very likely we shall
• 4:13:56
  lose them all together. What do you say, woman, I say,
• 4:14:01
  Jerry says she, speaking very slowly. I say, if missus Briggs would
• 4:14:07
  give you a sovereign every Sunday morning, I would not have you a seven
• 4:14:13
  day cabsman. Again. We have known what it is, what it was
• 4:14:18
  to have no Sundays, and now we know what it is to call them
• 4:14:22
  our own. Thank God, you're earned enough to keep us, though it
• 4:14:28
  is sometimes close work to pay for all the oats and hay, the license
• 4:14:33
  and the rent besides. But Harry will soon be earning something. And I
• 4:14:37
  would rather struggle on harder than we do than go back to those horror times
• 4:14:45
  when you hardly had a minute to look at your own children, and we
• 4:14:50
  never could go to a place of worship together or have a happy, quiet
• 4:14:54
  day. God forbid that we should ever turn back to those That's what I
• 4:15:01
  say, Jerry, and that is just what I told mister Briggs, my
• 4:15:05
  dear said Jerry, and what I mean to stick to. So don't go
• 4:15:11
  and fret yourself, Polly, for she had begun to cry, I should
• 4:15:15
  not go back to the old times if I earned twice as much. So
• 4:15:18
  that is settled, little woman. Now cheer up and I'll be off to
• 4:15:24
  the stand. Three weeks had passed away after this conversation, and no order
• 4:15:31
  had come from Missus Briggs, so there was nothing but taking jobs from the
• 4:15:35
  stand. Jerry took it to heart a good deal. But of course the
• 4:15:41
  work was harder for horse and man. But Polly would always cheer him up
• 4:15:46
  and say, never mind, father, never mind, do your best and
• 4:15:52
  leave the rest. Twill all come right someday or night. It soon became
• 4:15:58
  known that Jerry had lost his best customer, and for what reason. Most
• 4:16:03
  of the men said he was a fool. But two or three took his
• 4:16:07
  part. If working men don't stick to their Sunday, said Truman, they'll
• 4:16:14
  soon have done none left. It is every man's right and every beast's right.
• 4:16:19
  By God's law, we have a day of rest, and by the
• 4:16:22
  law of England we have a day of rest. And I say we ought
• 4:16:27
  to hold to the rights these laws give us and keep them for our children.
• 4:16:34
  All very well, for your religious chaps to talk, so said Larry.
• 4:16:40
  But I'll turn a shilling when I can. I don't believe in religion,
• 4:16:45
  for I don't see that your religious people are any better than the rest.
• 4:16:51
  If they are not better, put in Jerry, it is because they
• 4:16:55
  are not religious. You might as well say that our country's laws are not
• 4:17:00
  good because some people break them. If a man gives way to his temper
• 4:17:04
  and speaks evil of his neighbor and does not pay his debt, he is
• 4:17:10
  not religious. I don't care how much he goes to church. If some
• 4:17:15
  men are shams and humbugs, that does not make religion untrue. Real religion
• 4:17:22
  is the best and truest thing in the world, and the only thing that
• 4:17:27
  can make a man really happy or make the world we live in any better.
• 4:17:33
  If religion was good for anything, said Jones, it would prevent your
• 4:17:37
  religious people from making us work on Sundays, as you know many of them
• 4:17:44
  do. And that's why I say religion is nothing but a sham. Why
• 4:17:51
  if it was not for the church and chapel goers, it would hardly be
• 4:17:55
  worthwhile or coming out on Sunday. But they have their privileges, as they
• 4:18:00
  call them, and I go without. I shall expect them to answer for
• 4:18:06
  my soul if I can't get a chance of saving it. Several of the
• 4:18:11
  men applauded this till Jerry said, that may sound well enough, but it
• 4:18:17
  won't do. Every man must look after his own soul. You can't lay
• 4:18:22
  it down at another man's store like a foundling and expect him to take care
• 4:18:27
  of it. And don't you see if you were always sitting on your box
• 4:18:33
  waiting for affair, they will say, if you don't take him, someone
• 4:18:37
  else will. And he does not look for any Sunday. Of course,
• 4:18:44
  they don't go to the bottom of it, or they would see if they
• 4:18:48
  never came for a cab, it would be no use your standing there.
• 4:18:55
  But people don't always like to go to the bottom of things. Maybe convenient
• 4:19:00
  to do it, But if your Sunday drivers would strike for a day of
• 4:19:04
  rest, the thing would be done. And what would all the good people
• 4:19:11
  do if they could not get to their favorite preachers, said Larry. Tis
• 4:19:15
  not for me to lay down plans for other people, said Jerry. But
• 4:19:19
  if they can't walk so far, they can go to what is nearer.
• 4:19:25
  And if it you drain, then they can put on their macintoshes as they
• 4:19:29
  do on a weekday. If a thing is right, it can be done.
• 4:19:33
  If it is wrong, it can be done without, and a good
• 4:19:37
  man will find a way. And that is as true for us cabmen as
• 4:19:42
  it is for the church goers. End of Chapter thirty six, Chapter thirty
• 4:19:51
  seven, The Golden Rule. Two or three weeks after this, as we
• 4:19:57
  came into the yard late in the evening, Polly came running across the road
• 4:20:03
  with the lantern. She always brought it to him if it was not very
• 4:20:07
  wet. It has all come right, Jerry. Missus Briggs sent her servant
• 4:20:14
  this afternoon to ask you to take her out tomorrow at eleven o'clock. I
• 4:20:18
  said, yes, I thought so. But we suppose she employed someone else
• 4:20:23
  down well, said he. The real fact is the master was put out
• 4:20:30
  because mister Barker refused to come on Sundays. But he has been trying other
• 4:20:36
  cabs, but there's something wrong with all of them. Some drive too fast
• 4:20:41
  and some drive too so. And the mistress says, there is not one
• 4:20:47
  of them so nice and clean as yours, and nothing shall suit her but
• 4:20:52
  mister Barker's cab again. Pauline was almost out of breath, and Jerry broke
• 4:20:57
  out, and Mary laughed to all come right someday or night. You were
• 4:21:03
  right, my dear, You generally are run and get the supper, and
• 4:21:10
  I'll have Jack's harness off and make him stuck unhappy. In no time after
• 4:21:15
  this, missus Briggs won on Jerry's cap quite as often as before, never
• 4:21:21
  however, on a Sunday. But there came a day when we had Sunday
• 4:21:26
  work, and this is how it happened. We all come home on a
• 4:21:32
  Saturday night, very tired. I'm very glad to think that the next day
• 4:21:37
  would be all rest, but so it was not to be. On Sunday
• 4:21:42
  morning, Jerry was cleaning me in the yard when Polly stepped up to him,
• 4:21:48
  looking very full of something. What is it, said Jerry, Well,
• 4:21:55
  my dear, she said, Poor Dinah Brown has just had a letter
• 4:22:00
  brought to her to say that her mother is dangerously ill, and that she
• 4:22:04
  must go directly if she wishes to see her alive. The place is more
• 4:22:11
  than ten miles away from here, out in the country, and she says
• 4:22:17
  that if she takes the train she would still have four miles to walk,
• 4:22:22
  And so weak as she is, and the baby only four weeks old.
• 4:22:27
  Of course that would be impossible. And she wants to know if you would
• 4:22:32
  take her in your cab, and she promises to pay you faithfully as she
• 4:22:37
  can get the money. Tut, tut, we'll see about that. It
• 4:22:44
  was not the money I was thinking about, but of losing our Sunday.
• 4:22:48
  The horses are tired, and I am tired too. That's where it pinches.
• 4:22:56
  It pinches all around for that matter, said Polly, for it's only
• 4:23:00
  half Sunday without you. But you know, we should do to other people
• 4:23:07
  as we should like they should do to us. And I know very well
• 4:23:11
  what I should like if my mother was dying. And Jerry, dear,
• 4:23:15
  I am sure it won't break the Sabbath. For if pulling a poor beast
• 4:23:21
  or donkey I have a pet dot spoil it. I am quite sure taking
• 4:23:26
  poor Dinah would not do it. Why, Polly, you're as good as
• 4:23:32
  a minister, and so as I have had my Sunday morning, sermon,
• 4:23:37
  early stay you may go and tell Dinah that I'll be ready for her as
• 4:23:41
  the clock strikes ten. But stop, just step round to but your braidens
• 4:23:48
  with my compliments and ask him if he would lend me his light trap.
• 4:23:53
  I know he never uses it out on the Sunday, and it would make
• 4:23:57
  a wonderful difference to the horse. Away she went, and soon returned,
• 4:24:03
  saying that he could have the trap and welcome all right, said he.
• 4:24:07
  Now put me a bit of bread and cheese, and I'll be back in
• 4:24:11
  the afternoon as soon as I can, and I'll have the meat pie ready
• 4:24:17
  for an early tea. And said dinner, said Polly, and away she
• 4:24:21
  went. Well. He made his preparations to the tune of Polly's The Woman,
• 4:24:26
  and no mistake of which tune he was very fond. I was selected
• 4:24:32
  for the journey, and at ten o'clock we started in a light, high
• 4:24:37
  willed gig, which ran so easily that after the four wheeled cab it seemed
• 4:24:41
  like nothing. It was a fine may day, and as soon as we
• 4:24:47
  were out of the town, the sweet air, the smell of fresh grass,
• 4:24:52
  and the soft country roads were as pleasant as they used to be in
• 4:24:56
  the old times, and I soon began to I feel quite fresh. Dinah's
• 4:25:02
  family lived in a small farmhouse up a green lane, close by a meadow,
• 4:25:07
  with some fine shady trees, and there were two cows feeding in it.
• 4:25:12
  A young man asked Jerry to break his trap into the meadow and he
• 4:25:18
  would tie me up in the cow shed. He wished he had a better
• 4:25:22
  stable to offer, if your cows would not be offended, said Jerry.
• 4:25:27
  There is nothing my horse would like so ill as to half an hour or
• 4:25:32
  two in your beautiful meadow. He's quiet and it would be a rare treat
• 4:25:37
  for him. Do and welcome, said the young man. The best we
• 4:25:44
  have is at your service. For your kindness to my sister. We shall
• 4:25:48
  be having some dinner in an hour, and I hope you'll come in though
• 4:25:53
  with money, so ill we are all out of sorts in the house.
• 4:25:59
  Jerry thanks him kindly, but said he had some dinner with him. There
• 4:26:03
  was nothing he should like so well as walking about in the middle. When
• 4:26:10
  my harness was off. I did not know what I should do first,
• 4:26:14
  whether to eat the grass, or roll over on my back, or lie
• 4:26:18
  down and drest, or have a gallop across the meadle out of sheer spirits
• 4:26:23
  at being free, and I did all by turns. Jerry seemed to be
• 4:26:30
  quite as happy as I was. He sat down by a bank under a
• 4:26:33
  shady tree, and listened to the birds. Then he sang to himself and
• 4:26:40
  read out of the little brown book he was so fond of, and wandered
• 4:26:45
  around the meadow and down by a little brook, where he picked flowers in
• 4:26:51
  the hawthorn and tied them with long sprigs of ivy. Then he gave me
• 4:26:56
  a good feed of the oats which he had brought with him. But the
• 4:27:00
  time seemed all too short. I had not been in a field since I
• 4:27:06
  left poor Ginger at Earlshell. We came home gently, and Jerry's first words
• 4:27:11
  were, as we came into the yard, well, Polly, I have
• 4:27:17
  not lost my Sunday after all, for the birds were singing hymns at every
• 4:27:22
  bush when I joined in the service. And as for Jack, he was
• 4:27:27
  like a young colt. When he handed Dolly the flowers, she jumped about
• 4:27:33
  for joy. And of chapter thirty seven, Chapter thirty eight, Dolly and
• 4:27:41
  a real gentleman. Winter came in early, with a great deal of cold
• 4:27:47
  and wet. There was snow or sleet or rain almost every day for weeks,
• 4:27:52
  changing only for keen driving winds or sharp frosts. The horses all felt
• 4:27:59
  it very much. When it is a dry cold, a couple of good
• 4:28:02
  thick rugs will keep the warmth in us, but when it is a soaking
• 4:28:06
  rain they soon get wet through and are no good. Some of the drivers
• 4:28:10
  had a waterproof cover to throw over, which was a fine thing, but
• 4:28:14
  some of the men were so poor that they could not protect either themselves or
• 4:28:18
  their horses, and many of them suffered very much that winter. When we
• 4:28:22
  horses had worked half the day, we went to our dry stables and could
• 4:28:26
  rest, while they had to sit on their boxes, sometimes staying out as
• 4:28:30
  late as one or two o'clock in the morning if they had a party to
• 4:28:33
  wait for. When the streets were slippery with frost or snow. That was
• 4:28:38
  the worst of all for us horses. One mile of such traveling, with
• 4:28:44
  a weight to draw and no firm footing, would take more out of us
• 4:28:47
  than four on a good road. Every nerve and muscle of our bodies is
• 4:28:52
  on the strain to keep our balance, and added to this, the fear
• 4:28:56
  of falling is more exhausting than anything else. If the roads are very bad,
• 4:29:00
  indeed, our shoes are roughed, but that makes us feel nervous at
• 4:29:04
  first, when the weather was very bad, many of the men would go
• 4:29:10
  and sit in the tavern close by and get some one to watch for them,
• 4:29:14
  But they were often lost affair in that way and could not, as
• 4:29:18
  Jerry said, be there without spending money. He never went to the rising
• 4:29:22
  sun. There was a coffee shop near where he now, and then went
• 4:29:26
  or he bought of an old man who came to our rank with tins of
• 4:29:30
  hot coffee and pies. It was hit his opinion that spirits and beer made
• 4:29:34
  a man colder afterward, and that dry clothes, good food, cheerfulness,
• 4:29:40
  and a comfortable wife at home were the best things to keep a cabman warm.
• 4:29:45
  Polly always supplied him with something to eat when he could not get home,
• 4:29:49
  and sometimes he would see little Dolly peeping from the corner of the street
• 4:29:53
  to make sure a father was on the stand. If she saw him,
• 4:29:57
  she would run off at full speed and soon come back with something in a
• 4:30:03
  tein or basket, some hot soup or pudding Polly had ready. It was
• 4:30:07
  wonderful how such a little thing could get safely across the street, often thronged
• 4:30:12
  with horses and carriages. But she was a brave little maid, and felt
• 4:30:17
  it quite an honor to bring Father's first course, as he used to call
• 4:30:21
  it. She was a general favorite on the stand, and there was not
• 4:30:25
  a man who would not have seen her safely across the street if Jerry had
• 4:30:29
  not been able to do it. One cold windy day, Dolly had brought
• 4:30:33
  Jerry a basin of something hot and was standing by him while he ate it.
• 4:30:38
  He had scarcely begun when a gentleman walking toward us very fast held up
• 4:30:44
  his umbrella. Jerry touched his hat in return, gave the basin to Dolly,
• 4:30:48
  and was taking off my cloth when the gentleman, hastening up, cried
• 4:30:52
  out, no, no, finish your soup, my friend. I have
• 4:30:56
  not much time to spare, but I can wait till you have done,
• 4:30:59
  and set your look girl safe on the pavement, so saying, he seated
• 4:31:03
  himself in the cab. Jerry thanked him kindly and came back to Dolly.
• 4:31:07
  There, Dolly, that's a gentleman. That's a real gentleman, Dolly,
• 4:31:12
  he has got time and thought for the comfort of a poor cabman and a
• 4:31:15
  little girl. Jerry finished his soup, set this child across, and then
• 4:31:21
  took his orders to drive to Clapham Rise. Several times after that, the
• 4:31:26
  same gentleman took our cab. I think he was very fond of dogs and
• 4:31:30
  horses, for whenever we took him to his own door, two or three
• 4:31:33
  dogs would come bounding out to meet him. Sometimes he came round and patted
• 4:31:37
  me, saying, in his quiet, pleasant way, this horse has got
• 4:31:41
  a good master, and he deserves it. It was a very rare thing
• 4:31:45
  for anyone to notice the horse that had been working for him. I have
• 4:31:49
  known ladies to do it now and then, and this gentleman and one or
• 4:31:53
  two others have given me a pat and a kind word. But ninety nine
• 4:31:59
  persons out of a hundred would as soon think of patting the steam engine that
• 4:32:02
  drew the train. The gentleman was not young, and there was a forward
• 4:32:07
  stoop in his shoulders, as if he was always going at something. His
• 4:32:11
  lips were thin and close shut, though they had a very pleasant smile.
• 4:32:15
  His eye was keen, and there was something in his jaw and the motion
• 4:32:18
  of his head that made one think he was very determined in anything he said
• 4:32:23
  about. His voice was pleasant and kind. Any horse would trust that voice,
• 4:32:29
  though it was just as decided as everything else about him. One day,
• 4:32:33
  he and another gentleman took our cab. They stopped at his shop in
• 4:32:37
  R Street, and while his friend went in, he stood at the door.
• 4:32:41
  A little ahead of us. On the other side of the street,
• 4:32:44
  a cart with two very fine horses was standing before some wine vaults. The
• 4:32:48
  carter was not with them, and I cannot tell how long they had been
• 4:32:52
  standing, but they seemed to think they had waited long enough and began to
• 4:32:56
  move off. Before they had gone many paces, the carter came running out
• 4:33:00
  and caught them. He seemed furious at their having moved, and with a
• 4:33:04
  whip and rain punished them brutally, even beating them about the head. Our
• 4:33:10
  gentleman saw it all, and, stepping quickly across the street, said,
• 4:33:14
  in a decided voice, if you don't stop that directly, I'll have you
• 4:33:18
  arrested for leaving your horses and for brutal conduct. The man, who had
• 4:33:22
  clearly been drinking, poured forth some abusive language, but he left off,
• 4:33:27
  knocking the horses about and taking the reins got into his cart. Meantime,
• 4:33:33
  our friend had quietly taken a note book from his pocket and looking at the
• 4:33:37
  name and address painted on the cart, he wrote something down. What do
• 4:33:41
  you want with that? Growled the carter as he cracked his whip and was
• 4:33:45
  moving on. A nod in a grim smile was the only answer he got.
• 4:33:51
  On returning to the cab our, Friend was joined by his companion,
• 4:33:53
  who said laughingly, I should have thought right, you had enough businesses of
• 4:33:57
  your own to look after without trouble yourself about other people's horses and servants.
• 4:34:03
  Our friends stood still for a moment, and throwing his head a little back.
• 4:34:07
  Do you know why this world is as bad as it is? No,
• 4:34:11
  said the other. Then I'll tell you it is because people think only
• 4:34:17
  about their own business and won't trouble themselves to stand up for the oppressed,
• 4:34:21
  nor bring the wrong doer to light. I never see a wicked thing like
• 4:34:25
  this without doing what I can, and many a master has thanked me for
• 4:34:29
  letting him know how his horses have been treated. I wish there were more
• 4:34:33
  gentlemen like you, sir, said Jerry, for they are wanted badly enough
• 4:34:37
  in this city. After this, we continued our journey, and as they
• 4:34:42
  got out of the cab our, Friend was saying My doctrine is this,
• 4:34:47
  that if we see cruelty or wrong, that we have the power to stop
• 4:34:52
  and do nothing. We make ourselves sharers in the guilt end of Chapter thirty
• 4:34:57
  eight, Chapter thirty nine, Seed Sam. I should say that for a
• 4:35:04
  cab horse, I was very well off. Indeed, my driver was my
• 4:35:10
  owner, and it was his interest to treat me well and not overwork me,
• 4:35:15
  even had he not been so good a man as he was. But
• 4:35:19
  there were a great many horses which belonged to the large cab owners who let
• 4:35:25
  them out to their drivers for so much money a day. As the horses
• 4:35:30
  did not belong to these men, the only thing they thought of was how
• 4:35:34
  to get their money out of them, first to pay the master, and
• 4:35:38
  then to provide for their own living. And a dreadful time some of these
• 4:35:45
  horses had of it, of course, I understood but little. But it
• 4:35:49
  was often talked over on the stand, and the governor, who was a
• 4:35:53
  kind hearted man and fond of horses, would sometimes speak up if one came
• 4:36:00
  in very much jaded or ill used. One day, a shabby, miserable
• 4:36:06
  looking driver who went by the name of Seedy Sam, brought in his horse,
• 4:36:11
  looking dreadfully beat, and the governor said, you and your horse look
• 4:36:17
  more fit for the police station than for this rank. The man flung his
• 4:36:22
  tattered rag over the horse, turned full round upon the governor, and said,
• 4:36:29
  in a voice that sounded almost desperate, if the police have any business
• 4:36:33
  with the matter, it ought to be with the masters who charge us so
• 4:36:37
  much, or with the fares that are fixed so low. If a man
• 4:36:42
  has to pay eighteen shillings a day for the use of a cab and two
• 4:36:47
  horses, as many of us have to do in the season, and must
• 4:36:51
  make that up before we earn a penny for ourselves, I say tis more
• 4:36:56
  than hard work nine shillings a day to get out of each chorse before you
• 4:37:00
  begin to get your own living. You know that's true. And if the
• 4:37:04
  horses don't work, we must starve. I and my children have known what
• 4:37:10
  that is before. Now I've six of em and only one earns anything.
• 4:37:15
  I am on the stand fourteen or sixteen hours a day, and I haven't
• 4:37:18
  had a Sunday these ten or twelve weeks. You know, Skinner never gives
• 4:37:23
  a day if he can help it. And if I don't work hard,
• 4:37:27
  tell me who does I want a warm coat and a macintosh, but with
• 4:37:32
  so many to feed, how can a man get it. I had to
• 4:37:36
  pledge my clock a week ago to pay skinner, and I shall never see
• 4:37:40
  it again. Some of the other drivers stood round, nodding their heads and
• 4:37:47
  saying he was right. The man went on, you that have your own
• 4:37:52
  horses and cabs or drive for good masters, have a chance of getting on
• 4:37:56
  and a chance of doing right. I haven't. We can't charge more than
• 4:38:02
  sixpence a mile after the first within the four mile radius. This very morning
• 4:38:07
  I had to go a clear six miles and only took three shillings. I
• 4:38:12
  could not get a return fare and had to come all the way back.
• 4:38:17
  There's twelve miles for the horse and three shillings for me. After that,
• 4:38:22
  I had a three mile fare, and there were bags in boxes enough to
• 4:38:26
  have brought in a good many twopences if they had been put outside, But
• 4:38:30
  you know how people do. All that could be piled up inside on the
• 4:38:34
  front seat were put in, and three heavy boxes went on to the top.
• 4:38:40
  That was sixpence and the fare one and sixpence. Then I got a
• 4:38:44
  return for a shilling. Now that makes eighteen miles for the horse, and
• 4:38:48
  six shillings for me. There's three shillings still for that horse to earn,
• 4:38:53
  and nine shillings for the afternoon horse before I touch a penny. Of course,
• 4:38:59
  it is not always as bad as that, but you know it often
• 4:39:03
  is. And I say'tis a mockery to tell a man that he must
• 4:39:07
  not overwork his horse, For when a beast is downright tired, there's nothing
• 4:39:12
  but the whip that will keep his legs a going. You can't help yourself.
• 4:39:17
  You must put your wife and children before the horse. The masters must
• 4:39:22
  look to that. We can't. I don't ill use my horse for the
• 4:39:26
  sake of it. None of you can say I do. There's wrong lays
• 4:39:30
  somewhere, never a day's rest, never a quiet hour with the wife and
• 4:39:34
  children. I often feel like an old man, though I'm only forty five.
• 4:39:41
  You know how quick some of the gentry are to suspect us of cheating
• 4:39:45
  and overcharging. Why they stand with their purses in their hands, counting it
• 4:39:51
  over to a penny and looking at us as if we were pickpockets. I
• 4:39:56
  wish some of them had got to sit on my box sixteen hours a day
• 4:40:00
  and get a living out of it, and eighteen shillings besides, and that
• 4:40:04
  in all weathers they would not be so uncommon, particular never to give us
• 4:40:10
  a sixpence over, or to cram all the luggage inside. Of course,
• 4:40:15
  some of em tip us pretty handsome now and then or else we could not
• 4:40:19
  live. But you can't depend upon that. The men who stood round much
• 4:40:26
  approved this speech, and one of them said, it is desperate, hard
• 4:40:30
  and if a man sometimes does what it is wrong, it is no wonder.
• 4:40:36
  And if he gets a dram too much, who's to blow him up?
• 4:40:40
  Jerry had taken no part in this conversation, but I never saw his
• 4:40:45
  face look so sad before. The governor had stood with both his hands in
• 4:40:49
  his pockets. Now he took his handkerchief out of his hat and wiped his
• 4:40:55
  forehead. You've beaten me, Sam, he said, For it's all true,
• 4:41:00
  and I won't cast it up to you any more about the police.
• 4:41:04
  It was the look in that horse's eye that came over me. It is
• 4:41:10
  hard lines for man, and it is hard lines for beast. And who's
• 4:41:14
  to mend it? I don't know. But anyway you might tell the poor
• 4:41:18
  beast that you were sorry to take it out of him in that way.
• 4:41:22
  Sometimes a kind word is all we can give him, poor brutes, and
• 4:41:27
  tis wonderful what they do understand. A few mornings after this talk, a
• 4:41:33
  new man came on the stand with Sam's cab. Hello, said one,
• 4:41:38
  what's up with ceed Sam. He's ill in bed, said the man.
• 4:41:44
  He was taken last night in the yard and could scarcely crawl home. His
• 4:41:48
  wife sent a boy this morning to say his father was in a high fever
• 4:41:52
  and could not get out, so I'm here instead. The next morning the
• 4:41:57
  same man came again. How is Sam, inquired the government governor. He's
• 4:42:03
  gone, said the man, What gone? You don't mean to say he's
• 4:42:08
  dead, just snuffed out, said the other. He died at four o'clock
• 4:42:14
  this morning. All yesterday he was raving, raving about Skinner and having no
• 4:42:19
  Sundays. I never had a Sunday's rest. These were his last words.
• 4:42:26
  No one spoke for a while, and then the governor said, I tell
• 4:42:30
  you what, mates, this is a warning for us. End of chapter
• 4:42:36
  thirty nine, Chapter forty. Poor Ginger. One day, while our cab
• 4:42:44
  and many others were waiting outside one of the parks where music was playing.
• 4:42:48
  A shabby old cab drove up beside ours. The horse was an old,
• 4:42:52
  worn out chestnut, with an ill kept coat and bones that showed plainly through
• 4:42:57
  it. It's a knees and the fore legs were very unsteady. I had
• 4:43:03
  been eating some hay, and the wind rolled a little lock of it that
• 4:43:07
  way, and the poor creature put out her long, thin neck and picked
• 4:43:11
  it up, and then turned and looked about for more. There was a
• 4:43:15
  hopeless look in the dull eye that I could not help noticing. And then
• 4:43:19
  as I was thinking where I had seen that horse before, she looked full
• 4:43:23
  at me and said, black, beauty, is that you? It was
• 4:43:30
  ginger, but how changed. The beautifully arched and glossy neck was now straight
• 4:43:37
  and lank and fallen in The clean straight legs and delicate fetlocks were swelled.
• 4:43:42
  The joints were grown out of shape with hard work. The face that was
• 4:43:48
  once so full of spirit and life was now full of suffering. And I
• 4:43:52
  could tell by the heaving of her sides and her frequent cough how bad her
• 4:43:56
  breath was. Our drivers were stackdy together a little way off, so I
• 4:44:02
  sidled up to her a step or two that we might have a little quiet
• 4:44:04
  talk. It was a sad tale that she had to tell. After a
• 4:44:11
  twelve month's run off at Earlshall, she was considered to be fit for work
• 4:44:15
  again and was sold to a gentleman For a little while. She got on
• 4:44:18
  very well, but after a longer gallop than usual, the old strain returned,
• 4:44:23
  and after being rested and doctored, she was again sold. In this
• 4:44:27
  way, she changed hands several times, but always getting lower down. And
• 4:44:33
  so at last said she, I was bought by a man who keeps a
• 4:44:37
  number of cabs and horses and lets them out. You look very well off,
• 4:44:42
  and I am glad of it, but I could not tell you what
• 4:44:45
  my life has been. When they found out my weakness, they said I
• 4:44:51
  was not worth what they gave for me, and that I must go into
• 4:44:53
  one of the low cabs and just be used up. And that is what
• 4:44:56
  they are doing, whipping in work, working with never one thought of what
• 4:45:00
  I suffer. They paid for me and must get it out of me,
• 4:45:04
  they say. The man who hires me now pays a deal of money to
• 4:45:08
  the owner every day, and so he has to get it out of me
• 4:45:12
  too. And so it's all the week, round and round, with never
• 4:45:17
  a Sunday rest. I said, you used to stand up for yourself if
• 4:45:22
  you were ill used. Ah, she said I did once, but it's
• 4:45:26
  no use. Men are strongest, and if they are cruel and have no
• 4:45:32
  feeling, there is nothing we can do but just bear it, bear it
• 4:45:36
  on and on to the end. I wish the end was come. I
• 4:45:40
  wish I was dead. I have seen dead horses, and I am sure
• 4:45:45
  that they do not suffer pain. I wish I may drop down dead at
• 4:45:48
  my work, can not be sent off to the knackers. I was very
• 4:45:53
  much troubled, and I put my nose up to hers, but I could
• 4:45:56
  say nothing to comfort her. She was pleased to see me, for she
• 4:46:02
  said, you are the only friend I ever had. Just then her driver
• 4:46:07
  came up and, with a tug in her mouth, backed her out of
• 4:46:10
  the line and drove off, leaving me very sad. Indeed, a short
• 4:46:15
  time after this, a cart with a dead horse in it passed our cab
• 4:46:18
  stand The head hung out of the cart tail, the lifeless tongue was slowly
• 4:46:23
  dropping with blood, and the sunken eyes. But I can't speak of them.
• 4:46:27
  The sight was too dreadful. It was a chestnut horse with a long,
• 4:46:32
  thin neck. I saw a white streak down the forehead. I believe
• 4:46:37
  it was ginger. I hoped it was, for then her troubles would be
• 4:46:41
  over. Oh, if men were more merciful, they would shoot us before
• 4:46:45
  we came to such misery. End of Chapter forty Chapter forty one, the
• 4:46:52
  butcher. I saw a great deal of trouble amongst the horses in London,
• 4:47:00
  and much of it that might have been prevented by a little common sense.
• 4:47:04
  We horses do not mind hard work if we are treated reasonably, And I
• 4:47:10
  am sure that there are many driven by quite poor men, who have a
• 4:47:15
  happier life than I had. When I used to go in the Countess of
• 4:47:18
  W's carriage with my silver mounted harness and high feeding, it often went to
• 4:47:26
  my heart to see how the little ponies were used, straining along with heavy
• 4:47:30
  loads, or staggering under heavy blows from some low cruel boy. Once I
• 4:47:40
  saw a little gray pony with a thick mane and a pretty head, and
• 4:47:44
  so much like merrylegs, that if I had not been in harness, I
• 4:47:48
  should have neighed to him. He was doing his best to pull a heavy
• 4:47:52
  cart while a strong rough boy was cutting him under the belly with his whip
• 4:47:59
  and chucking cruelly at his little mouth. Could it be Merrylegs? It was
• 4:48:04
  just like him? But then mister Bloomfield was never to sell him, and
• 4:48:10
  I think he would not do it. But this might have been quite as
• 4:48:14
  good a little fellow, and had as happy a place when he was young.
• 4:48:19
  I often noticed the great speed at which butcher's horses were made to go,
• 4:48:26
  though I did not know why it was so, till one day when
• 4:48:30
  we had to wait some time in Saint John's Wood. There was a butcher's
• 4:48:34
  shop next door, and as we were standing, a butcher's cart came dashing
• 4:48:41
  up at a great pace. The horse was hot and much exhausted. He
• 4:48:45
  hung his head down, while his heaving sides and trembling legs showed how hard
• 4:48:52
  he had been driven. The lad jumped out of the cart and was getting
• 4:48:56
  the basket when the master came out of the shop, much displeased after looking
• 4:49:03
  at the horse, he turned angrily to the lad. How many times shall
• 4:49:08
  I tell you not to drive in this way? You ruined the last horse
• 4:49:12
  and broke his wind, and you are going to ruin this in the same
• 4:49:18
  way. If you were not my own son, I would dismiss you on
• 4:49:22
  the spot. It is a disgrace to have a horse brought to the shop
• 4:49:26
  in a condition like that. You are liable to be taken up by the
• 4:49:30
  police for such driving. And if you are, you need not look to
• 4:49:36
  me for bail, for I have spoken to you till I am tired.
• 4:49:40
  You must look out for yourself. During this speech, the boy had stood
• 4:49:45
  by sullen and dogged, but when his father ceased, he broke out angrily.
• 4:49:52
  It wasn't his fault, and he wouldn't take the blame. He was
• 4:49:56
  only going by orders all the time. You always say, now be quick,
• 4:50:03
  now look sharp. And when I go to the houses, one wants
• 4:50:07
  a leg of mutton for an early dinner, and I must be back with
• 4:50:11
  it in a quarter of an hour. Another cook had forgotten to order the
• 4:50:15
  beef. I must go and fetch it and be back in no time,
• 4:50:18
  or the mistress will scold. And the housekeeper says they have company coming unexpectedly
• 4:50:25
  and must have some chops sent up directly. And the lady at number four
• 4:50:29
  in the Crescent never orders her dinner till the meat comes in for lunch,
• 4:50:33
  and it's nothing but hurry, hurry, hurry all the time. If the
• 4:50:37
  gentry would think of what they want and order their meat the day before,
• 4:50:42
  there need not be this blow up. I wish to goodness they would,
• 4:50:48
  said the butcher. Twould save me a wonderful deal of harass, and I
• 4:50:52
  could suit my customers much better if I knew beforehand. But there, what's
• 4:50:57
  the use of talking. Whoever thinks of a butcher's convenience or a butcher's horse,
• 4:51:03
  now, then take him in and look to him. Well, mind,
• 4:51:08
  he does not go out again today, And if anything else is wanted,
• 4:51:14
  you must carry it yourself in the basket. With that, he went
• 4:51:18
  in, and the horse was led away. But all boys are not cruel.
• 4:51:23
  I have seen some as fond of their pony or donkey, as if
• 4:51:27
  it had been a favorite dog. And the little creatures have worked away as
• 4:51:33
  cheerfully and willingly for their young drivers as I work for Jerry. It may
• 4:51:38
  be hard work sometimes, but a friend's hand and voice make it easy.
• 4:51:44
  There was a young coster boy who came up our street with greens and potatoes.
• 4:51:49
  He had an old pony, not very handsome, but the cheerfulest and
• 4:51:55
  pluckiest little thing I ever saw. And to see how fond those two were
• 4:52:00
  of each other was a treat. The pony followed his master like a dog,
• 4:52:06
  and when he got into his cart would trot off without a whip or
• 4:52:10
  a word, and rattle down the street as merrily as if he had come
• 4:52:14
  out of the Queen's stables. Jerry liked the boy and called him Prince Charlie,
• 4:52:19
  for he said he would make a king of drivers some day. There
• 4:52:25
  was an old man too, who used to come up our street with a
• 4:52:29
  little coal cart. He wore a coal heaver's hat and looked rough and black.
• 4:52:34
  He and his old horse used to plod together along the street like two
• 4:52:38
  good partners who understood each other. The horse would stop of his own accord
• 4:52:45
  at the doors where they took coal off him. He used to keep one
• 4:52:49
  ear bent towards his master. The old man's cry could be heard up the
• 4:52:56
  street long before he came near. I never knew what he said, but
• 4:53:00
  the children called him Old Bahar, who, for it sounded like that Polly
• 4:53:07
  took her coal off him and was very friendly, and Jerry said it was
• 4:53:12
  a comfort to think how happy an old horse might be in a poor place.
• 4:53:19
  End of Chapter forty one, Chapter forty two, The election. As
• 4:53:27
  we came into the yard one afternoon, Polly came out, Jerry, I've
• 4:53:32
  had mister b here asking about your vote, and he wants to hire your
• 4:53:34
  cab for the election. He will call for an answer. Well, Polly,
• 4:53:40
  you may say that my cab will be otherwise engaged. I should not
• 4:53:42
  like to have it pasted over with their great bills. And as to making
• 4:53:47
  Jack and Captain race about to the public houses to bring up half drunken voters,
• 4:53:51
  why I think twould be an insult to the horses. No, I
• 4:53:53
  shan't do it. I suppose you'll vote for the gentleman. He said he
• 4:53:57
  was of your politics, so he is in some things, but I shall
• 4:54:02
  not vote for him. Polly, you know what his trade is, yes,
• 4:54:07
  Well, a man who gets rich by that trade may be all very
• 4:54:11
  well in some ways, but he is blind as to what the working men
• 4:54:14
  want. I could not, in my conscience send him up to make the
• 4:54:17
  laws. I dare say they'll be angry. But every man must do what
• 4:54:21
  he thinks to be best for his country. On the morning before the election,
• 4:54:26
  Jerry was putting me into the shafts when Dolly came into the yard,
• 4:54:30
  sobbing and crying, with her little blue frock and white pinafore splattered all over
• 4:54:34
  with mud. Why Dolly, what is the matter Those naughty boys, she
• 4:54:41
  sobbed, have thrown the dirt all over me and called me a little raga
• 4:54:45
  raga. They called her a little blue ragamuffin, father, said Harry,
• 4:54:49
  who ran in looking very angry. But I have given it to them.
• 4:54:53
  They won't insult my sister again. I have given them a thrashing. They
• 4:54:57
  will remember a set of cow howardly, rascally orange blaggards. Jerry kissed the
• 4:55:03
  child and said, run in to mother, my pet, and tell her
• 4:55:07
  I think you had better stay at home today and help her, then turning
• 4:55:11
  gravely to Harry, my boy, I hope you will always defend your sister
• 4:55:15
  and give anybody who insults her a good thrashing. That is as it should
• 4:55:18
  be. But mind, I won't have any election blaggarding on my premises.
• 4:55:23
  There are as many blue blaggards as there are orange, and as many white
• 4:55:27
  as there are purple or any other color. And I won't have any of
• 4:55:30
  my family mixed up with it. Even women and children are ready to quarrel
• 4:55:34
  for the sake of a color, and not one in ten of them knows
• 4:55:37
  what it is about. Why, father, I thought blue was for liberty,
• 4:55:42
  My boy, liberty does not come from colors. They only show party.
• 4:55:47
  And all the liberty you can get out of them is liberty to get
• 4:55:49
  drunk at other people's expense, liberty to ride to the pole in a dirty
• 4:55:53
  old cab, liberty to abuse anyone that does not wear your color, and
• 4:55:57
  to shout yourself horse at what you only have understand. That's your liberty.
• 4:56:03
  Oh father, you are laughing. No, Harry, I am serious,
• 4:56:07
  and I am ashamed to see how men go on who ought to know better.
• 4:56:11
  An election is a very serious thing, at least it ought to be,
• 4:56:14
  and every man ought to vote according to his conscience and let his neighbor
• 4:56:18
  do the same. End of Chapter forty two, Chapter forty three, A
• 4:56:26
  friend in need. The election day came at last. There was no lack
• 4:56:30
  of work for Jerry and me. First came a stout, puffy gentleman with
• 4:56:36
  a carpet bag. He wanted to go to the Bishopsgate station. Then we
• 4:56:40
  were called by a party who wished to be taken to the Regent's Park,
• 4:56:44
  and next we were wanted in a side street where a timid, anxious old
• 4:56:48
  lady was waiting to be taken to the bank. There we had to stop
• 4:56:52
  and take her back again, and just as we had set her down,
• 4:56:55
  a red faced gentleman with a handful of papers came running up out of brass
• 4:57:00
  and before Jerry could get down, he had opened the door, popped himself
• 4:57:03
  in and called out Bow Street Police Station. Quick so off we went with
• 4:57:08
  him, and when after another turn or two we came back there was no
• 4:57:12
  other cab on the stand, Jerry put on my nose bag, for as
• 4:57:17
  he said, we must eat when we can on such days as these,
• 4:57:21
  So munch away, Jack and make the best of your time, old boy.
• 4:57:25
  I found I had a good feed of crushed oats, wetted up with
• 4:57:27
  a little bread. This would be a treat any day, but very refreshing.
• 4:57:32
  Then Jerry was so thoughtful and kind. What horse would not do his
• 4:57:37
  best for such a master. Then he took out one of Polly's meat pies,
• 4:57:41
  and standing near me, he began to eat it. The streets were
• 4:57:45
  very full, and the cabs with the candidates colors on them were dashing about
• 4:57:49
  through the crowd as if life and limb were of no consequence. We saw
• 4:57:53
  two people knock down that day, and one was a woman. The horses
• 4:57:57
  were having a bad time of it, poor things, but the voters inside
• 4:58:02
  thought nothing of that. Many of them were half drunk, hurrahing out of
• 4:58:06
  the cab windows if their own party came by. It was the first election
• 4:58:10
  I had seen, and I don't want to be at another, though I
• 4:58:14
  have heard things are better now. Jerry and I had not eaten many mouthfuls
• 4:58:18
  before a poor young woman carrying a heavy child came along the street. She
• 4:58:23
  was looking this way in that way, and seemed quite bewildered. Presently,
• 4:58:29
  she made her way up to Jerry and asked if he could tell her the
• 4:58:32
  way that to Saint Thomas's Hospital and how far it was to get there.
• 4:58:37
  She had come from the country that morning, she said, in a market
• 4:58:40
  cart. She did not know about the election and was quite a stranger in
• 4:58:44
  London. She had got an order for the hospital for her little boy.
• 4:58:48
  The child was crying with a feeble pining cry. Poor little fellow, She
• 4:58:53
  said, he suffers a great deal of pain. He is four years old
• 4:58:57
  and can't walk any more than a baby. But the doctor said if I
• 4:59:00
  could get him into the hospital, he might get well. Pray, sir,
• 4:59:04
  how far is it and which way is it? Why, missus,
• 4:59:07
  said Jerry. You can't get there walking through crowds like this. Why it
• 4:59:11
  is three miles away? And that child is heavy, Yes, bless him
• 4:59:15
  he is. But I am strong, thank God, And if I knew
• 4:59:18
  the way, I think I should get on somehow. Please tell me the
• 4:59:22
  way. You can't do it, said Jerry. You might be knocked down
• 4:59:26
  and the child will be run over. Now look here, just get into
• 4:59:30
  this cab and I'll drive you safe to the hospital. Don't you see the
• 4:59:33
  rain is coming on. No, sir, no, I can't do that,
• 4:59:37
  thank you. I have only just money enough to get back with.
• 4:59:41
  Please tell me the way. Look you here, missus, said Jerry.
• 4:59:45
  I've got a wife and dear children at home, and I know a father's
• 4:59:48
  feelings. Now get you into that cab and I'll take you there. For
• 4:59:52
  nothing. I'd be ashamed of myself to let a woman and a sick child
• 4:59:56
  run a risk like that. Heaven bless you, said the woman, and
• 5:00:00
  burst into tears. There there, cheer up, my dear. I'll soon
• 5:00:03
  get you there. Come let me put you inside. As Jerry went up
• 5:00:07
  to the door, two men with colors in their hats and buttonholes ran up,
• 5:00:11
  calling out. Cab engaged, cried Jerry. But one of the men,
• 5:00:17
  pushing past the woman, sprang into the cab, followed by the other.
• 5:00:21
  Jerry looked as stern as a policeman. This cab is already engaged.
• 5:00:26
  Gentlemen by that lady lady, said one of them. Huh, she can
• 5:00:30
  wait. Our business is very important. Besides, we were in first.
• 5:00:34
  It is our right, and we will shall stay in. A droll smile
• 5:00:37
  came over Jerry's face as he shut the door upon them. All right,
• 5:00:41
  gentlemen, pray stay in as long as it suits you. I can wait
• 5:00:45
  while you rest yourselves, And turning his back upon them, he walked up
• 5:00:48
  to the young woman who was standing near me. They'll soon be gone,
• 5:00:52
  he said, laughing, don't trouble yourself, my dear, and they soon
• 5:00:56
  were gone, for when they understood Jerry's dodge, they got out, calling
• 5:01:00
  him all sorts of bad names and blustering about his number and getting a summons.
• 5:01:04
  After this little stoppage, we were soon on our way to the hospital,
• 5:01:08
  going as much as possible through by streets. Jerry rung the great bell
• 5:01:14
  and helped the young woman out. Thank you a thousand times, she said,
• 5:01:18
  I could never have got here alone. You're kindly welcome, and I
• 5:01:22
  hope the dear child will soon be better. He watched her go in at
• 5:01:26
  the door, and gently he said to himself, inasmuch as YE have done
• 5:01:30
  it to one of the least of these. Then he patted my neck,
• 5:01:33
  which was always his way when anything pleased him. The rain was now coming
• 5:01:38
  down fast, and just as we were leaving the hospital, door opened again
• 5:01:42
  and the porter called out cab. We stopped, and a lady came down
• 5:01:47
  the steps. Jerry seemed to know where at once. She put back her
• 5:01:51
  veil and said, Barker, Jeremiah Barker, is it you. I am
• 5:01:56
  very glad to find you here. You are just the friend I want for
• 5:02:00
  it is very difficult to get a cab in this part of London. To
• 5:02:03
  day, I shall be proud to serve you, ma'am. I am right
• 5:02:07
  glad. I happened to be here. Where may I take you to,
• 5:02:10
  ma'am, to the Paddington station, And then if we are in good time,
• 5:02:14
  as I think we shall be, you shall tell me all about Mary
• 5:02:17
  and the children. We got to the station in good time, and being
• 5:02:21
  under shelter, the lady stood a good while talking to Jerry. I found
• 5:02:25
  she had been Polly's mistress, and after many inquiries about her, she said,
• 5:02:30
  how do you find the cab work suit you in winter? I know
• 5:02:33
  Mary was rather anxious about you last year, Yes, ma'am she was.
• 5:02:38
  I had a bad cough that followed me up quite into the warm weather,
• 5:02:41
  and when I am kept out late, she does worry herself a good deal.
• 5:02:45
  You see, ma'am. It is all ours and all weathers, and
• 5:02:48
  that does try a man's constitution. But I am getting on pretty well,
• 5:02:53
  and I should feel quite lost if I had not horses to look after.
• 5:02:57
  I was brought up to it, and I am afraid I should not do
• 5:03:00
  so well at anything else. Well, Barker, she said, it would
• 5:03:04
  be a great pity that you should seriously risk your health in this work,
• 5:03:08
  not only for your own, but for Mary's and the children's sake. There
• 5:03:11
  are many places where good drivers or good grooms are wanted. And if ever
• 5:03:17
  you think you ought to give up this cab work, let me know.
• 5:03:19
  Then sending some kind messages to Mary, she put something into his hand,
• 5:03:23
  saying, there's five chillings each for the two children. Mary will know how
• 5:03:29
  to spend it. Jerry thanked her and seemed much pleased, and turning out
• 5:03:33
  of the station, we at last reached home, and I at least was
• 5:03:37
  tired. End of Chapter forty three. Chapter forty four. Old Captain and
• 5:03:47
  his successor. Captain and I were great friends. He was a noble old
• 5:03:52
  fellow, and he was very good company. I never thought that he would
• 5:03:56
  have to leave his home and go down the hill, but his turn came,
• 5:03:59
  and this was how it happened. I was not there, but I
• 5:04:02
  heard all about it. He and Jerry had taken a party to the Great
• 5:04:06
  Railway station over London Bridge and were coming back somewhere between the bridge and the
• 5:04:11
  Monument when Jerry saw a brewer's empty dray coming along, drawn by two powerful
• 5:04:17
  horses. The draymen was lashing his horses with his heavy whip. The dray
• 5:04:21
  was light and they started off at a furious rate. The man had no
• 5:04:25
  control over them, and the street was full of traffic. One young girl
• 5:04:29
  was knocked down and run over, and the next moment they dashed up against
• 5:04:33
  our cab. Both the wheels were torn off and the cab was thrown over.
• 5:04:37
  Captain was dragged down, the shaft splintered, and one of them ran
• 5:04:41
  into his side. Jerry too was thrown but was only bruised. Nobody could
• 5:04:45
  tell how he escaped. He always said'twas a miracle. When poor Captain
• 5:04:51
  was got up, he was found to be very much cut and knocked about.
• 5:04:55
  Jerry led him home gently, and a sad sight it was to see
• 5:04:57
  the blood soaking into his white coat and dropping from his side and shoulder.
• 5:05:03
  The Draymen was proved to be very drunk and was fined, and the brewer
• 5:05:07
  had to pay damages to our master, but there was no one to pay
• 5:05:08
  damages to poor Captain. The ferrier and Jerry did the best they could to
• 5:05:14
  ease his pain and make him comfortable. The fly had to be mended,
• 5:05:18
  and for several days I did not go out, and Jerry earned nothing.
• 5:05:22
  The first time we went to the stand after the accident, the Governor came
• 5:05:26
  up to hear how Captain was. He'll never get over it, said Jerry.
• 5:05:30
  At least not for my work, so the farrier said. This morning
• 5:05:33
  he says he may do for carting and that sort of work. It has
• 5:05:37
  put me out very much carting. Indeed, I've seen what horses come to
• 5:05:42
  at that work round London. I only wish all the drunkards could be put
• 5:05:47
  in a lunatic asylum instead of being allowed to run foul of sober people.
• 5:05:52
  If they would break their own bones and smash their own carts and laying their
• 5:05:55
  own horses, that would be their own affair, and we might let them
• 5:05:59
  alone. But it's it seems to me that the innocent always suffer. And
• 5:06:02
  then they talk about compensation. You can't make compensation. There's all the trouble
• 5:06:07
  and vexation and loss of time besides losing a good horse. That's like an
• 5:06:11
  old friend. It's nonsense talking of compensation. If there's one devil that I
• 5:06:17
  should like to see in the bottomless pit more than another, it's the drink
• 5:06:19
  devil, I say, Jerry, said the Governor. You are treading pretty
• 5:06:25
  hard on my toes. You know, I'm not so good as you are
• 5:06:27
  more shame to me. I wish I was well, said Jerry, why
• 5:06:32
  don't you cut with it? Governor. You're too good a man to be
• 5:06:34
  the slave of such a thing. I'm a great fool, Jerry. But
• 5:06:37
  I tried once for two days, and I thought I should have died.
• 5:06:40
  How did you do? I had hard work at it for several weeks.
• 5:06:44
  You see, I never did get drunk. But I found that I was
• 5:06:48
  not my own master, and that when the craving came, it was hard
• 5:06:52
  work to say no. I saw that one of us must knock under the
• 5:06:55
  drink, devil or Jerry Barker, and I said it should not be Jerry
• 5:06:57
  Barker. God help helping me. But it was a struggle, and I
• 5:07:02
  wanted all the help I could get. For till I tried to break the
• 5:07:04
  habit. I did not know how strong it was. But then Polly took
• 5:07:08
  such pains that I should have good food, And when the craving came on,
• 5:07:12
  I used to get a cup of coffee or some peppermint, or read
• 5:07:15
  a bit in my book, and that was a help to me. Sometimes
• 5:07:18
  I had to say over and over to myself, give up the drink,
• 5:07:22
  or lose your soul, give up the drink, or break Polly's heart.
• 5:07:26
  But thanks be to God and my dear wife, my chains were broken.
• 5:07:30
  And now for ten years I have not tasted a drop, and never wish
• 5:07:33
  for it. I've a great mind to try, it, said Grant,
• 5:07:37
  for tis a poor thing not to be one's own master. Do, governor
• 5:07:41
  do? You'll never repent it? And what a help it would be to
• 5:07:44
  know some of the poor fellows in our rank if they saw you do without
• 5:07:47
  it. I know there's two or three would like to keep out of that
• 5:07:48
  tavern if they could. At first, Captain seemed to do well, but
• 5:07:53
  he was a very old horse, and it was only his wonderful constitution and
• 5:07:57
  Jerry's care that had kept him up at the cab work so long. Now
• 5:08:02
  he broke down very much. The farrier said he might mend up enough to
• 5:08:06
  sell for a few pounds, but Jerry said no, a few pounds got
• 5:08:08
  by selling a good old servant into hard work and misery could canker all the
• 5:08:12
  rest of his money. And he thought the kindest thing he could do for
• 5:08:15
  the fine old fellow would be to put a sure bullet through his head,
• 5:08:19
  and then he would never suffer more, for he did not know where to
• 5:08:22
  find a kind master for the rest of his days. The day after this
• 5:08:26
  was decided, Harry took me to the forge for some new shoes. When
• 5:08:29
  I returned, Captain was gone. I and the family all felt it very
• 5:08:33
  much. Jerry had now to look out for another horse, and he soon
• 5:08:37
  heard of one through an acquaintance who was under groom in a nobleman's stables.
• 5:08:41
  He was a valuable young horse, but he had run away, smashed into
• 5:08:45
  another carriage, flung his lordship out, and so cut and blemished himself that
• 5:08:49
  he was no longer fit for a gentleman's stables, and the coachman had orders
• 5:08:53
  to look round and sell him as well as he could. I can do
• 5:08:56
  with high spirits, said Jerry. If a horse is not visy or hard
• 5:09:00
  mouthed, there is not a bit of vice in him, said the man.
• 5:09:03
  His mouth is very tender, and I think myself that was the cause
• 5:09:07
  of the accident. You see, he had been clipped, and the weather
• 5:09:10
  was bad, and he had not exercise enough, and when he did go
• 5:09:12
  out, he was as full of spring as a balloon. Our governor,
• 5:09:17
  the coachman I mean had him harnessed in as tight and strong as he could,
• 5:09:21
  with the martingale and the check rein a very sharp curb, and the
• 5:09:25
  reins put in at the bottom bar. It is my belief that it made
• 5:09:27
  the horse mad, being tender in the mouth and so full of spirit.
• 5:09:32
  Likely enough, I'll come and see him, said Jerry. The next day,
• 5:09:36
  Hotspur, that was his name, came home. He was a fine
• 5:09:38
  brown horse without a white hair in him, as tall as captain, with
• 5:09:42
  a very handsome head, and only five years old. I gave him a
• 5:09:45
  friendly greeting by way of good fellowship, but did not ask him any questions.
• 5:09:51
  The first night he was very restless. Instead of lying down, he
• 5:09:53
  kept jerking his halter rope up and down through the ring and knocking the block
• 5:09:57
  about against the manger till I could not sleep. However, the next day,
• 5:10:02
  after five or six hours in the cab, he came in, quiet
• 5:10:04
  and sensible. Jerry patted and talked to him a good deal, and very
• 5:10:08
  soon they understood each other, and Jerry said that with an easy bit and
• 5:10:12
  plenty of work, he would be as gentle as a lamb, and that
• 5:10:15
  it was an ill wind that blew nobody good, for if his lordship had
• 5:10:19
  lost a hundred guinea favorite, the cabman had gained a good horse with all
• 5:10:22
  his strength in him. Hotspur thought it a great come down to be a
• 5:10:26
  cab horse, and was disgusted at standing in the rank. But he confessed
• 5:10:30
  to me at the end of the week that an easy mouth and a free
• 5:10:33
  head made up for a great deal, and after all, the work was
• 5:10:36
  not so degrading as having one's head and tail fastened to each other at the
• 5:10:40
  saddle. In fact, he settled in well, and Jerry liked him very
• 5:10:44
  much. End of chapter forty four, Chapter forty five, Jerry's New Year.
• 5:10:52
  For some people, Christmas and the New Year holiday are very merry times.
• 5:10:56
  But for cabmen and cabman's horses it is no holiday. Though it may
• 5:11:00
  be a harvest, there are so many parties, balls, and places of
• 5:11:03
  amusement open that the work is hard and often late. Sometimes driver and horse
• 5:11:08
  have to wait for hours in the rain or frost, shivering with the cold,
• 5:11:11
  while the merry people within are dancing away to the music. I wonder
• 5:11:15
  if the beautiful ladies ever think of the weary cabin waiting on his box and
• 5:11:19
  his patient beast standing till his legs get stiff with cold. I had now
• 5:11:25
  most of the evening work, as I was well accustomed to standing, and
• 5:11:27
  Jerry was also more afraid of hotspur taking cold. We had a great deal
• 5:11:32
  of late work in the Christmas week, and Jerry's cough was bad, but
• 5:11:34
  however late we were. Polly sat up for him and came out with a
• 5:11:38
  lantern to meet him, looking anxious and troubled. On the evening of the
• 5:11:42
  New Year, we had to take two gentlemen to a house in one of
• 5:11:45
  the West End squares. We set them down at nine o'clock and were told
• 5:11:49
  to come again at eleven, but said one, as it is a card
• 5:11:52
  party, you may have to wait a few minutes, but don't be late.
• 5:11:56
  As the clock struck eleven, we were at the door for Jerry.
• 5:12:00
  Mary was always punctual. The clock chimed the quarters one, two, three,
• 5:12:04
  and then struck twelve, but the door did not open. The wind
• 5:12:08
  had been very changeable, with squalls of rain during the day, but now
• 5:12:11
  it came on sharp, driving sleet which seemed to come all the way round.
• 5:12:15
  It was very cold, and there was no shelter. Jerry got off
• 5:12:18
  his box and came and pulled one of my cloths a little more over my
• 5:12:22
  neck. Then he took a turn or two up and down, stamping his
• 5:12:26
  feet, and he began to beat his arms, but that set him off
• 5:12:29
  coughing. So he opened the cab door and sat at the bottom with his
• 5:12:32
  feet on the pavement, and was a little sheltered still. The clock chimed
• 5:12:36
  the quarters and no one came. At half past twelve, he rang the
• 5:12:38
  bell and asked the servant if he would be wanted that night. Oh,
• 5:12:42
  yes, you'll be wanted safe enough, said the man. You must not
• 5:12:45
  go, it will soon be over. And again Jerry sat down, but
• 5:12:49
  his voice was so hoarse I could hardly hear him. At a quarter past
• 5:12:53
  one, the door opened and the two gentlemen came out. They got into
• 5:12:57
  the cab without a word and told Jerry to drive. That was nearly two
• 5:13:00
  miles. My legs were numb with cold, and I thought I should have
• 5:13:04
  stumbled. When the men got out, they never said they were sorry to
• 5:13:07
  have kept us waiting so long, but were angry at the charge. However,
• 5:13:11
  as Jerry never charged more than it was his due, so he never
• 5:13:14
  took less, and they had to pay for the two hours and a quarter
• 5:13:17
  waiting, but it was harder in money to Jerry. At last we got
• 5:13:19
  home. He could hardly speak. His cough was dreadful. Polly asked no
• 5:13:22
  questions, but opened the door and held the lantern for him. Can't I
• 5:13:26
  do something? She said, Yes, get Jack something warm, and then
• 5:13:30
  boil me some gruel. This was said in a hoarse whisper. He could
• 5:13:33
  hardly get his breath, but he gave me a rub down as usual,
• 5:13:37
  and even went up into the hay loft for an extra bundle of straw from
• 5:13:40
  my bed. Polly brought me a warm mash that made me comfortable, and
• 5:13:44
  then they locked the door. It was late the next morning before anyone came,
• 5:13:48
  and then it was only Harry. He cleaned us and fed us and
• 5:13:51
  swept our stalls. Then he put the straw back as if it was Sunday.
• 5:13:55
  He was very still and neither whistled nor sang. At noon he came
• 5:13:57
  again and gave us our food and wae. This time Dolly came with him.
• 5:14:02
  She was crying, and I could gather from what they said that Jerry
• 5:14:03
  was dangerously ill, and the doctor said it was a bad case. So
• 5:14:07
  two days passed and there was great trouble. In doors. We saw only
• 5:14:11
  Harry and sometimes Dolly. I think she came for company, for Polly was
• 5:14:15
  always with Jerry, and he had to be kept very quiet. On the
• 5:14:18
  third day, while Harry was in the stable, a tap came at the
• 5:14:22
  door, and Governor Grant came in. I wouldn't go to the house,
• 5:14:25
  my boy, he said, but I want to know how your father is.
• 5:14:27
  He is very bad, said Harry. He can't be much worse.
• 5:14:30
  They call it bronchitis. The doctor thinks it will turn one way or the
• 5:14:34
  other to night. That's bad, very bad, said Grant, shaking his
• 5:14:37
  head. I know two men who died of that last week. It takes
• 5:14:41
  him off in no time. But while there's life, there's hope. So
• 5:14:42
  you must keep up your spirits. Yes, said Harry quickly, And the
• 5:14:47
  doctor said that father had a better chance than most men because he didn't drink.
• 5:14:49
  He said, yesterday the fever was so high that if father had been
• 5:14:52
  a drinking man, it would have burned him up like a piece of paper.
• 5:14:56
  But I believe he thinks he will get over it. Don't you think
• 5:14:57
  he will, mister Grant. The governor looked puzzled. If there's any rule
• 5:15:03
  that good men should get over these things, I'm sure he will. My
• 5:15:06
  boy, he's the best man I know. I'll look in early tomorrow.
• 5:15:10
  Early next morning, he was there, well, said he. Father is
• 5:15:14
  better, said Harry. Mother hopes he will get over it, thank God,
• 5:15:15
  said the governor. And now you must keep him warm and keep his
• 5:15:18
  mind easy. And that brings me to the horses. You see, Jack
• 5:15:22
  will be all the better for the rest of a week or two in a
• 5:15:23
  warm stable, and you can easily take him a turn up and down the
• 5:15:27
  streets to stretch his legs. But this young one, if he does not
• 5:15:30
  get work, he will be all up on his end, as you say,
• 5:15:33
  and will rather be too much for you. And when he does go
• 5:15:37
  out there, I'll be an accident. It is like that now, said
• 5:15:40
  Harry. I've kept him short of corn, but he's so full of spirit.
• 5:15:42
  I don't know what to do with him. Just so, said Grant.
• 5:15:45
  Now look here, will you tell your mother that, if she is
• 5:15:48
  agreeable, I will come for him every day till something is arranged and take
• 5:15:52
  him for a good spell of work, and whatever he earns, I'll bring
• 5:15:53
  your mother half of it, and that will help with the horses feed.
• 5:15:57
  Your father is in a good club, I know, but that won't keep
• 5:16:00
  the horses, and they'll be eating their heads off all this time. I'll
• 5:16:03
  come at noon and hear what she says. And without waiting for Harry's thanks,
• 5:16:07
  he was gone at noon. I think he went and saw Holly,
• 5:16:11
  for he and Harry came to the stable together harnessed Hotspur and took him out
• 5:16:15
  for a week or more. He came for Hotspur, and when Harry thanked
• 5:16:18
  him or said anything about his kindness, he laughed it off, saying it
• 5:16:21
  was all good luck for him, for his horses were wanting a little rest,
• 5:16:23
  which they would not otherwise have had. Jerry grew better steadily, but
• 5:16:27
  the doctor said he must never go back to the cab work again if he
• 5:16:30
  wished to be an old man. The children had many consultations together about what
• 5:16:33
  father and mother would do and how they would help to earn money. One
• 5:16:37
  afternoon, Hotsper was brought in, very wet and dirty. The streets are
• 5:16:41
  nothing but slush, said the governor. It will give you a good morning,
• 5:16:44
  my boy to get him clean and dry. All right, Governor said
• 5:16:47
  Harry, I shall not leave him till he is You know I have been
• 5:16:51
  trained by my father. I wish all the boys had been trained like you,
• 5:16:53
  said the governor. While Harry was sponging off the mud from Hotspur's body
• 5:16:56
  and legs, Dolly came in, looking very full of something. Who lives
• 5:17:00
  at Fairstow? Harry, Mother has got a letter from Ferristow. She seems
• 5:17:03
  so glad and ran upstairs to father with it. Don't you know why?
• 5:17:07
  It is the name of Missus Fowers's place, Mother's old mistress. You know,
• 5:17:10
  the lady that father met last summer who sent you and me five shillings
• 5:17:12
  each. Oh Missus Fowler. Of course I know all about her. I
• 5:17:17
  wonder what she is writing to mother about. Mother wrote to her last week,
• 5:17:19
  said Harry. You know she told Father that if he ever give up
• 5:17:22
  the cad work, she would like to know. I wonder what she says.
• 5:17:25
  Run in and see Dolly. Harry scrubbed away at Hotspur with a whush
• 5:17:29
  hush, like any old holster. In a few minutes, Dolly came dancing
• 5:17:33
  into the stable. Oh, Harry, there was never anything so beautiful missus,
• 5:17:37
  Fowler says, we are all to go and live near her. There
• 5:17:38
  is a cottage now empty that will suit us, with a garden and a
• 5:17:41
  hen house and apple trees and everything. And her coachman is going away in
• 5:17:45
  the spring, and then she will want father in his place. And there
• 5:17:48
  are good families round where you can get a good school for me. And
• 5:17:52
  mother is laughing and crying by turns, and father does look so happy.
• 5:17:56
  That's uncommon, jolly, said Harry, and just the right thing. I
• 5:17:59
  should say. Well suit father and mother both. But I don't intend to
• 5:18:02
  be a page boy with tight clothes and rows of buttons. I'll be a
• 5:18:04
  groom or a gardener. It was quickly settled that as soon as Jerry was
• 5:18:07
  well enough, they should remove to the country, and that the cab and
• 5:18:11
  horses should be as sold as soon as possible. This was heavy news for
• 5:18:15
  me, for I was not young now and could not look for any improvement
• 5:18:18
  in my condition. Since I left Bertwick. I had never been so happy
• 5:18:21
  as with my dear master Jerry. But three years of cab work, even
• 5:18:23
  under the best conditions, we'll tell on one's strength, and I felt that
• 5:18:26
  I was not the horse that I had been. Grant said at once that
• 5:18:30
  he would take Hotspur, and there were men on the sand who would have
• 5:18:33
  bought me. But Jerry said I should not go to cab work again with
• 5:18:36
  just anybody, and the Governor promised to find a place for me where I
• 5:18:38
  should be comfortable. The day came for going away, Jerry had not been
• 5:18:44
  allowed to go out yet, and I never saw him. After that New
• 5:18:45
  Year's Eve, Polly and the children came to bid me good bye, Poor
• 5:18:49
  old Jack. Dear old Jack, I wish we could take you with us,
• 5:18:52
  she said, and then, laying her hand on my mane, she
• 5:18:55
  put her face close to my neck and kiss me. Dolly was crying and
• 5:18:59
  kissed me too. Harry stroked me a great deal, but said nothing.
• 5:19:03
  Only he seemed very sad. And so I was led away to my new
• 5:19:06
  place. End of Chapter forty five, Part four, Chapter forty six,
• 5:19:15
  Jakes and the Lady. I was sold to a corn dealer and baker whom
• 5:19:21
  Jerry knew, and with him he thought I should have good food and fair
• 5:19:25
  work. In the first he was quite right, And if my master had
• 5:19:30
  always been on the premises, I do not think I should have been overloaded.
• 5:19:34
  But there was a foreman who was always hurrying and driving every one,
• 5:19:38
  and frequently when I had quite a full load, he would order something else
• 5:19:44
  to be taken on. My carter, whose name was Jakes, often said
• 5:19:49
  it was more than I ought to take, but the other always overruled him.
• 5:19:55
  Twas no use going twice when once would do, and he chose to
• 5:20:00
  get business forward. Jakes, like the other carters, always had the check
• 5:20:04
  rein up, which prevented me from drawing easily. And by the time I
• 5:20:10
  had been there three or four months, I found the work telling very much
• 5:20:15
  on my strength. One day I was loaded more than usual, and part
• 5:20:19
  of the road was a steep uphill. I used all my strength, but
• 5:20:26
  I could not get on, and was obliged continually to stop. This did
• 5:20:33
  not please my driver, and he laid his whip on badly. Get on,
• 5:20:37
  you, lazy fellow, he said, or I'll make you again.
• 5:20:42
  I started the heavy load and struggled on a few yards. Again the whip
• 5:20:48
  came down, and again I struggled forward. The pain of that great cart
• 5:20:56
  whip was sharp, but my mind was hurt quite as much as my poor
• 5:21:02
  sides. To be punished and abused when I was doing my very best.
• 5:21:08
  Was so hard it took the heart out of me. A third time he
• 5:21:15
  was flogging me cruelly when a lady stepped quickly up to him and said,
• 5:21:21
  in a sweet, earnest voice, Oh, pray, do not whip your
• 5:21:26
  good horse anymore. I'm sure he's doing the best he can, and the
• 5:21:33
  road is very steep. I am sure he is doing his best. If
• 5:21:40
  doing his best won't get this load up, he must do something more than
• 5:21:44
  his best. That's all I know, ma'am, said Jakes. But is
• 5:21:48
  it not a heavy load? She said, yes, yes, too heavy,
• 5:21:53
  he said, but that's not my fault. The foreman came just as
• 5:22:00
  we were starting and would have three hundredweight more put on to save him trouble.
• 5:22:06
  And I must get on with it as well as I can. He
• 5:22:10
  was raising the whip again when the lady said, pray stop. I think
• 5:22:15
  I can help you if you will let me. The man laughed. You
• 5:22:19
  see, she said, you do not give him a fair chance. He
• 5:22:25
  cannot use all his power with his head held back as it is, with
• 5:22:27
  that check rein. If you would take it off, I am sure he
• 5:22:32
  would do better. Do try it, she said persuasively. I should be
• 5:22:37
  very glad if you would well, well, said Jakes, with a short
• 5:22:42
  laugh. Anything to please a lady, of course, how far you wish
• 5:22:48
  it down, ma'am? Quite down, give him his head altogether. The
• 5:22:52
  rain was taken off, and in a moment I put my head down to
• 5:22:56
  my very knees. What a comfort it was. Then I tossed it up
• 5:23:03
  and down several times to get the aching stiffness out of my neck. Poor
• 5:23:10
  fellow, that is what you wanted, said she, patting and stroking me
• 5:23:15
  with her gentle hand. And now if you'll speak kindly to him and lead
• 5:23:19
  him on, I believe he will be able to do better. Jakes took
• 5:23:25
  the rein. Come on, Blackie. I put down my head and threw
• 5:23:30
  my whole weight against the collar. I spared no strength. The load moved
• 5:23:37
  on, and I pulled it steadily up the hill, and then stopped to
• 5:23:42
  take a breath. The lady had walked along the footpath and now came across
• 5:23:48
  into the road. She stroked and patted my neck, as I had not
• 5:23:53
  been padded for many a long day. You see, he was quite willing
• 5:23:59
  when you gave him the chance. I am sure he is a fine tempered
• 5:24:03
  creature, and I dare say he has known better days. He won't put
• 5:24:08
  that rain on again, will you, for he was just going to hitch
• 5:24:12
  it up on the old plan. Well, ma'am, I can't deny that
• 5:24:18
  having his head has helped him up the hill, and I'll remember it another
• 5:24:23
  time, and thank you, ma'am. But if he went without a check
• 5:24:27
  rein, I should be the laughing stock of all the carters. It is
• 5:24:33
  the fashion, you see, is it not better? She said, to
• 5:24:38
  lead a good fashion than to follow a bad one. A great many gentlemen
• 5:24:44
  do not use check reins. Now our carriage horses have not worn them for
• 5:24:49
  fifteen years, and working with much less fatigue than those who have them.
• 5:24:56
  Besides, she added, in a very serious we have no right to distress
• 5:25:03
  any of God's creatures without a very good reason. We call them dumb animals,
• 5:25:11
  and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel.
• 5:25:15
  But they do not suffer less because they have no words. But I must
• 5:25:19
  not detain you now. I thank you for trying my plan with your good
• 5:25:23
  horse, and I am sure you will find it far better than the whip
• 5:25:29
  good day, and with another soft pat on my neck, she stepped lightly
• 5:25:33
  across the path, and I saw her no more. That was a real
• 5:25:38
  lady. I'll be bound for it, said Jakes to himself. She spoke
• 5:25:45
  just as polite as if I were a a gentleman. And I'll try her
• 5:25:49
  plan up hill at any rate. And I must do him the justice to
• 5:25:56
  say that he let my rein out several holes, and going uphill after that,
• 5:26:00
  he always gave me my head. But the heavy loads went on.
• 5:26:07
  Good feed and fair rest will keep up one's strength under full work, but
• 5:26:12
  no horse can stand against overloading. And I was getting so thoroughly pulled down
• 5:26:18
  from this cause that a younger horse was brought in my place. I may
• 5:26:25
  as well mention here what I suffered at this time from another cause. I
• 5:26:29
  had heard horses speak of it, but had never myself had experience of the
• 5:26:33
  evil. This was a badly lighted stable. There was only one very small
• 5:26:40
  window at the end, and the consequence was that the stalls were almost dark.
• 5:26:45
  Besides the depressing effect this had on my spirits, it very much weakened
• 5:26:49
  my sight, and when I was suddenly brought out of the darkness into the
• 5:26:53
  glare of daylight. It was very painful to my eyes. Several times I
• 5:27:00
  stumbled over the threshold and could scarcely see where I was going. I believe
• 5:27:06
  had I stayed there very long, I should have become purblind, and that
• 5:27:10
  would have been a great misfortune. For I have heard men say that a
• 5:27:15
  stone blind horse was safer to drive than one which had imperfect sight, as
• 5:27:19
  it generally makes them very timid. However, I escaped without any permanent injury
• 5:27:26
  to my sight, and was sold to a large cab owner Chapter forty seven.
• 5:27:33
  Hard Times. My new master I shall never forget. He had black
• 5:27:40
  eyes and a hooked nose. His mouth was as full of teeth as a
• 5:27:45
  bulldog's, and his voice was as harsh as the grinding of cart wheels over
• 5:27:51
  graveled stones. His name was Nicholas Skinner, and I believe he was the
• 5:27:57
  man that poor seedy Sand drove. For I have heard men say that seeing
• 5:28:03
  is believing, But I should say that feeling is believing. Forasmuch as I
• 5:28:11
  had seen before, I never knew till now the utter misery of a cab
• 5:28:17
  horse's life. Skinner had a low set of cabs and a low set of
• 5:28:23
  drivers. He was hard on the men, and the men were hard on
• 5:28:29
  the horses. In this place we had no Sunday rest, and it was
• 5:28:34
  in the heat of the summer. Sometimes on a Sunday morning a party of
• 5:28:41
  fast men would hire the cab for the day, four of them inside and
• 5:28:45
  another with the driver, and I had to take them ten or fifteen miles
• 5:28:51
  out into the country and back again. Never would any of them get down
• 5:28:56
  to walk up hill, let it be ever so stick, or the day
• 5:29:00
  ever so hot, unless indeed, when the driver was afraid, I should
• 5:29:07
  not manage it. And sometimes I was so fevered and worn that I could
• 5:29:12
  hardly touch my food. How I used to long for the nice bran mash
• 5:29:18
  with niter in it that Jerry used to give us on Saturday nights in hot
• 5:29:23
  weather. That used to cool us down and make us so comfortable. Then
• 5:29:30
  we had two nights and a whole day for unbroken rest, and on Monday
• 5:29:36
  morning we were as fresh as young horses again. But here there was no
• 5:29:42
  rest, and my driver was just as hard as his master. He had
• 5:29:48
  a cruel whip with something so sharp at the end that it sometimes drew blood,
• 5:29:55
  and he would even whip me under the belly and flip the lash out
• 5:30:00
  at my head. Indignities like these took the heart out of me terribly,
• 5:30:07
  but still I did my best and never hung back, for as poor Ginger
• 5:30:15
  said, it was no use men are strongest. My life was now so
• 5:30:23
  utterly wretched that I wished I might, like Ginger, drop down dead at
• 5:30:30
  my work and be out of my misery. And one day my wish very
• 5:30:37
  nearly came to pass. I went on the stand at eight in the morning
• 5:30:42
  and had done a good share of work when we had to take a fare
• 5:30:47
  to the railway. A long train was expected in, so my driver pulled
• 5:30:52
  up at the back of some of the outside cabs to take the chance of
• 5:30:56
  a return fare. It was a very train, and as all the cabs
• 5:31:02
  were soon engaged, ours was called for. There was a party of four,
• 5:31:07
  a noisy, blustering man with a lady, a little boy, and
• 5:31:11
  a little girl, and a great deal of luggage. The lady and the
• 5:31:18
  boy got into the cab, and while the man ordered about the luggage,
• 5:31:22
  the young girl came and looked at me, Papa. She said, I'm
• 5:31:29
  sure this poor horse cannot take us in all our luggage so far. He
• 5:31:33
  is so very weak and worn up. Do look at him. Oh he's
• 5:31:40
  all right, miss, said my driver, he's strong enough. The porter,
• 5:31:45
  who was pulling about some heavy boxes, suggested to the gentleman, as
• 5:31:51
  there was so much luggage, whether he should not take a second cab.
• 5:31:56
  Can your horse do it? Or can he said the blustering man, Oh,
• 5:32:00
  he can do it all right, sir. Send the boxes up.
• 5:32:03
  Porter, he could take more than that, and he helped to haul up
• 5:32:08
  a box so heavy that I could feel the springs go down. Papa,
• 5:32:15
  Papa, do take a second cab, said the young girl in a beseeching
• 5:32:19
  voice. I'm sure we are wrong, and I'm sure it is very cruel
• 5:32:26
  nonsense, Grace, get in at once, and don't make all this fuss
• 5:32:30
  a pretty thing. It would be if a man of business had to examine
• 5:32:33
  every cab horse before he hired it. The man knows his own business,
• 5:32:37
  of course. There, get in and hold your tongue. My gentle friend
• 5:32:42
  had to obey, and box after box was dragged up and lodged on the
• 5:32:48
  top of the cab or settled by the side of the driver. At last
• 5:32:53
  all was ready and with his usual jerk at the rein and slash of the
• 5:32:57
  whip, he drove out of the station. The load was very heavy,
• 5:33:04
  and I had had neither food nor rest since morning. But I did my
• 5:33:10
  best, as I had always done in spite of the cruelty and injustice.
• 5:33:15
  I got along fairly till we came to Ludgate Hill. But there the heavy
• 5:33:21
  load and my own exhaustion were just too much. I was struggling to keep
• 5:33:26
  on, goaded by constant chucks of the rein and use of the whip,
• 5:33:32
  when in a single moment I cannot tell how, my feet slipped out from
• 5:33:37
  under me, and I fell heavily to the ground on my side. The
• 5:33:42
  suddenness and the force with which I fell seemed to beat all the breath out
• 5:33:48
  of my body. I lay perfectly still, Indeed, I had no power
• 5:33:53
  to move, and I thought now I was going to die. I heard
• 5:33:59
  a sort of confusion round me, loud angry voices, and the getting down
• 5:34:04
  of the luggage. But it was all like a dream, I thought.
• 5:34:08
  I heard that sweet, pitiful voice saying, Oh, that poor horse,
• 5:34:15
  it's all our fault. Someone came and loosened the throat strap of my bridle
• 5:34:22
  and undid the traces which kept the collar so tight upon me. Someone said
• 5:34:27
  he's dead. He'll never get up again. Then I could hear a policeman
• 5:34:33
  giving orders, but I did not even open my eyes. I could only
• 5:34:38
  draw a gasping breath now. And then some cold water was thrown over my
• 5:34:45
  head, and some cordial was poured into my mouth, and something was covered
• 5:34:51
  over me. I cannot tell how long I lay there, but I found
• 5:34:56
  my life coming back, and a kind voice man was patting me and encouraging
• 5:35:02
  me to rise. After some more cordial had been given me, and after
• 5:35:07
  one or two attempts, I staggered to my feet and was gently led to
• 5:35:14
  some stables which were close by. Here, I was put into a well
• 5:35:18
  littered stall, and some warm gruel was brought to me, which I drank
• 5:35:23
  thankfully. In the evening, I was sufficiently recovered to be led back to
• 5:35:30
  Skinner's stables, where I think they did the best for me they could.
• 5:35:36
  In the morning, Skinner came with a farrier to look at me. He
• 5:35:41
  examined me very closely and said, this is a case of over work more
• 5:35:48
  than disease, and if you could give him a runoff for six months he
• 5:35:55
  would be able to work again. But now there is not an ounce of
• 5:35:59
  strength left in him. Then he must go to the dogs, said Skinner.
• 5:36:04
  I've no meadows to nurse sick horses in. He might get well or
• 5:36:10
  he might not. That sort of thing don't suit my business. My plan
• 5:36:15
  is to work him as long as they'll go, and then sell them for
• 5:36:18
  what they'll fetch at the knackers or elsewhere. If he was broken winded,
• 5:36:26
  said the farrier, you had better have him killed out of hand. But
• 5:36:30
  he is not. There's a sale of horses coming off in about ten days.
• 5:36:37
  If you rest him and feed him up, he may pick up,
• 5:36:41
  and you may get more than his skin is worth at any rate. Upon
• 5:36:45
  this advice, Skinner, rather unwillingly, i think, gave orders that I
• 5:36:52
  should be well fed and cared for. And the stable man, happily for
• 5:36:56
  me, carried out the orders with a much better will than his master had
• 5:37:00
  in giving it. Ten days of perfect rest. Plenty of good oats hay
• 5:37:07
  bran mashes with boiled linseed mixed in them did more to get up my condition
• 5:37:14
  than anything else could have done. Those linseseed mashes were delicious and I began
• 5:37:22
  to think, after all, it might be better to live than to go
• 5:37:26
  to the dogs. When the twelfth day after the accident came, I was
• 5:37:30
  taken to the sale a few miles out of London. I felt that any
• 5:37:36
  change from my present place must be an improvement, so I held up my
• 5:37:40
  head and hoped for the best. End of Chapter forty seven, Chapter forty
• 5:37:48
  eight farmer Thoroughgood and his grandson Willie. At this sale, of course,
• 5:37:55
  I found myself in company with the old, broken down horses, some lame,
• 5:38:00
  some broken winded, some old, and some that I am sure it
• 5:38:06
  would have been merciful to shoot. The buyers and sellers too, many of
• 5:38:11
  them looked not much better off than the poor beasts they were bargaining about.
• 5:38:17
  There were poor old men trying to get a horse or a pony for a
• 5:38:21
  few pounds that might drag about some little wood or coal cart. There were
• 5:38:26
  poor men trying to sell a worn out beast for two or three pounds,
• 5:38:32
  rather than have the greater loss of killing him. Some of them looked as
• 5:38:37
  if poverty and hard times had hardened them all over. But there were others
• 5:38:41
  that I would have willingly used. The last of my strength in serving poor
• 5:38:48
  and shabby, but kind and human with voices that I could trust. There
• 5:38:53
  was one tottering old man who took a great fancy to me, and i'd
• 5:39:00
  but I was not strong enough. It was an anxious time. Coming from
• 5:39:07
  the better part of the fair, I noticed a man who looked like a
• 5:39:11
  gentleman farmer, with a young boy by his side. He had a broad
• 5:39:17
  back and round shoulders, a kind ruddy face, and he wore a broad
• 5:39:22
  brimmed hat. When he came up to me and my companions, he stood
• 5:39:27
  still and gave a pitiful look round upon us. I saw his eye rest
• 5:39:34
  on me. I had still a good mane and tail, which did something
• 5:39:40
  for my appearance. I pricked my ears and looked at him. There's a
• 5:39:45
  horse, Willie, that has known better days, poor old fellow, said
• 5:39:52
  the boy. Do you think, Grandpa, he was ever a carriage horse.
• 5:39:57
  Oh, yes, my boy, said the farmer, coming closer.
• 5:40:02
  He might have been anything when he was young. Look at his nostrils and
• 5:40:06
  his ears, the shape of his neck and shoulder. There's a deal of
• 5:40:11
  breeding about that horse. He put out his hand and gave me a kind
• 5:40:15
  pat on the neck. I put out my nose. In answered to his
• 5:40:19
  kindness, the boy stroked my face, poor old fellow. See, Grandpa,
• 5:40:26
  how well he understands kindness. Could not you buy him and make him
• 5:40:32
  young again as you did with Ladybird? My dear boy, I can't make
• 5:40:37
  all old horses young. Besides, Lady Bird was not so very old,
• 5:40:44
  as she was run down and badly used. Well, Grandpa, I don't
• 5:40:48
  believe this one is old. Look at his mane and tail. I wish
• 5:40:53
  you would look into his mouth, and then you could tell. Though he
• 5:40:57
  is so very thin, his eyes are not sunk like some old horses.
• 5:41:03
  The old gentleman laughed. Bless the boy. He's as horsey as his old
• 5:41:07
  grandfather. But do look at his mouth, Grandpapa, and ask the price.
• 5:41:15
  I'm sure he would grow young in our meadows. The man who had
• 5:41:19
  brought me for sale now put in his word, the young gentleman's a real
• 5:41:25
  knowing one, sir. Now, the fact is this here ass has just
• 5:41:30
  pulled down with overwork in the cabs. He's not an old one. And
• 5:41:34
  I heard as how the veterinary said that a six month's run off which set
• 5:41:40
  him right up beIN as how his wind wasn't broken. I've had the tending
• 5:41:45
  of him these ten days past, and a gratefuller pleasanter animal I never met
• 5:41:52
  with, and twould be worth a gentleman's while to give a five pound note
• 5:41:56
  for him and let him have a chance. I'll be bound. He'd be
• 5:42:00
  worth twenty pounds next spring. The old gentleman laughed, and the little boy
• 5:42:06
  looked up eagerly. Oh, Grandpapa, didn't you say that the colt sold
• 5:42:11
  for five pounds more than you expected? You would not be poorter if you
• 5:42:18
  bought this one. The farmer slowly felt my legs, which were much swelled
• 5:42:25
  and strained. Then he looked at my mouth. Thirteen or fourteen, I
• 5:42:30
  should say, just trot him out, will you. I arched my poor
• 5:42:37
  thin neck, raised my tail a little, and threw out my legs as
• 5:42:41
  well as I could, for they were very stiff. What is the lowest
• 5:42:48
  you would take for him? Said the farmer, as I came back five
• 5:42:53
  pounds, Sir, that was the lowest price my master set.'tis a
• 5:42:59
  speculation, said the old gentleman, shaking his head, but at the same
• 5:43:04
  time slowly drawing out his purse. Quite a speculation. Have you any more
• 5:43:12
  business here, he said, counting the sovereigns into his hand. No,
• 5:43:17
  sir, I I can take him for you to the end, if you
• 5:43:19
  please do so. I'm now going there. They walked forward, and I
• 5:43:26
  was led behind. The boy could hardly control his delight, and the old
• 5:43:32
  gentleman seemed to enjoy his pleasure. I had a good feed at the inn,
• 5:43:37
  and was then gently ridden home by a servant of my new master's,
• 5:43:41
  and turned into a large meadow with a shed in one corner of it.
• 5:43:47
  Mister Thoroughgood, for that was the name of my benefactor, gave orders that
• 5:43:52
  I should have hay and oates every night and morning, and the run of
• 5:43:56
  the meadow during the day. And you, Willie, he said, must
• 5:44:03
  take the oversight of him. I give him in charge to you. The
• 5:44:08
  boy was proud of his charge and undertook it in all seriousness. There was
• 5:44:15
  not a day when he did not pay me a visit, sometimes picking me
• 5:44:18
  out from among the other horses and giving me a bit of carrot or something
• 5:44:22
  good, or sometimes standing by me while I ate my oats. He always
• 5:44:27
  came with kind words and caresses, and of course I grew very fond of
• 5:44:33
  him. He called me old Crony, as I used to come to him
• 5:44:37
  in the field and follow him about. Sometimes he brought his grandfather, who
• 5:44:44
  always looked closely at my legs. This is our point, Willie, he
• 5:44:49
  would say. But he is improving so steadily that I think we shall see
• 5:44:55
  a change for the better in the spring. The perfect rest, the good
• 5:45:00
  food, the soft turf, and gentle exercise soon began to tell on my
• 5:45:07
  condition and my spirits. I had a good constitution from my mother, and
• 5:45:14
  I was never strained when I was young, so that I had a better
• 5:45:18
  chance than many horses who had been worked before they came to their full strength.
• 5:45:22
  During winter, my legs improved so much that I began to feel quite
• 5:45:27
  young again. The spring came round, and one day in March, mister
• 5:45:33
  Thoroughgood determined that he would try me in the phaeton. I was well pleased,
• 5:45:38
  and he and Willie drove me a few miles. My legs were not
• 5:45:42
  stiff now, and I did the work with perfect ease. He's growing young,
• 5:45:48
  Willie. We must give him a little gentle work now, and by
• 5:45:52
  midsummer he'll be as good as ladybird. He has a beautiful mouth and good
• 5:45:57
  paces. They can't be better. Oh, Grandpa, how glad I am
• 5:46:04
  you bought him? So am I, my boy. But he has to
• 5:46:08
  thank you more than me. We must now be looking out for a quiet,
• 5:46:14
  genteel place for him, where he will be valued. Chapter forty nine.
• 5:46:22
  My last home. One day during the summer, the groom cleaned and
• 5:46:26
  dressed me with such extraordinary care that I thought some new change must be at
• 5:46:32
  hand. He trimmed my fetlocks and legs, passed the tarbrush over my hoofs,
• 5:46:38
  and even parted my forelock. I think the harness had an extra polish.
• 5:46:45
  Willie seemed half anxious, half merry as he got into the chaise with
• 5:46:48
  his grandfather. If the ladies take to him, said the old gentleman,
• 5:46:56
  they'll be suited, and he'll be suited. We can but try. At
• 5:47:00
  the distance of a mile or two from the village, we came to a
• 5:47:04
  pretty low house with a lawn and shrubbery at the front, and a drive
• 5:47:10
  up the door. Willie rang the bell and asked if Miss Bloomfield or Miss
• 5:47:15
  Ellen was at home. Yes, they were, so while Willie stayed with
• 5:47:19
  me, mister Thoroughgood went into the house. In about ten minutes he returned,
• 5:47:26
  followed by three ladies. One tall pale lady wrapped in a white shawl
• 5:47:32
  leaned on a younger lady with dark eyes and a merry face. The other,
• 5:47:37
  a very stately looking person, was Miss Bloomfield. They all came and
• 5:47:41
  looked at me and asked questions. The younger lady that was Miss Ellen,
• 5:47:48
  took to me very much. She said she was sure she should like me.
• 5:47:52
  I had such a good face. The tall pale lady said that she
• 5:47:57
  should always be nervous in right behind a horse that had once been down,
• 5:48:02
  as I might come down again, and if I did, she should never
• 5:48:06
  get over the fright. You see, ladies, said mister Thoroughgood. Many
• 5:48:11
  first rate horses have had their knees broken through the carelessness of their drivers,
• 5:48:17
  without any fault of their own, and from what I see of this horse,
• 5:48:22
  I should say that is his case. But of course I do not
• 5:48:25
  wish to influence you. If you incline, you can have him on a
• 5:48:29
  trial, and then your coachman will see what he thinks of him. You
• 5:48:34
  have always been such a good adviser to us about our horses, said the
• 5:48:38
  stately lady that your recommendation would go a long way with me, and if
• 5:48:44
  my sister Lavinna sees no objection, we will accept your offer of a trial
• 5:48:48
  with thanks. It was then arranged that I should be sent for the next
• 5:48:53
  day. In the morning, a smart looking young man came for me.
• 5:49:00
  He looked pleased, but then when he saw my knees, he said in
• 5:49:03
  a disappointed voice. I don't think, sir, you would have recommended my
• 5:49:08
  lady's a blemished horse like that handsome? Is that handsome? Does? Said
• 5:49:15
  my master. You're only taking him on trial, and I'm sure you will
• 5:49:19
  do fairly by him. Young man. If he is not as safe as
• 5:49:22
  any horse you ever drove, send him back. I was led to my
• 5:49:27
  new home, placed in a comfortable stable, fed and left to myself.
• 5:49:33
  The next day, when the groom was cleaning my face, he said,
• 5:49:37
  that is just like the star that black beauty had. He's much the same
• 5:49:41
  height too. I wonder where he is now. A little further on,
• 5:49:48
  he came to the place in my neck where I was bled and where the
• 5:49:52
  little knot was left in the skin. He almost started and began to look
• 5:49:56
  me over carefully, talking to himself white star on the forehead, one white
• 5:50:03
  foot on the off side, this little knot just in that place. Then
• 5:50:10
  looking at the middle of my back, and as I am alive, there
• 5:50:15
  is that little patch of white hair that John used to call beauty's threepenny bit.
• 5:50:21
  It must be black beauty. Why beauty, beauty? Do you know
• 5:50:26
  me, little Joe Green that almost killed you? And he began patting and
• 5:50:32
  patting me as if he was quite overjoyed. I could not say that I
• 5:50:37
  remembered him for now. He was a fine grown young fellow with black whiskers
• 5:50:44
  and a man's voice. But I was sure he knew me, and that
• 5:50:48
  he was Joe Green, and I was very glad. I put my nose
• 5:50:52
  up to him and tried to say that we were friends. I never saw
• 5:50:56
  a man so pleased give you a fair trial, I should think so.
• 5:51:02
  Indeed, I wonder who the rascal was that broke your knees, My old
• 5:51:06
  beauty. You must have been badly served out somewhere. Well, well,
• 5:51:12
  it won't be my fault if you haven't good times of it. Now.
• 5:51:17
  I wish John Manly was here to see you. In the afternoon, I
• 5:51:22
  was put into a low parked chair and brought to the door. Miss Ellen
• 5:51:26
  was going to try me, and Green went with her. I soon found
• 5:51:30
  that she was a good driver, and she seemed pleased with my paces.
• 5:51:36
  I heard Joe telling her about me, and that he was sure I was
• 5:51:40
  Squire Gordon's old Black Beauty. When we returned, the other sisters came out
• 5:51:45
  to hear how I had behaved myself. She told them what she had just
• 5:51:49
  heard, and said, I shall certainly write to missus Gordon and tell her
• 5:51:55
  that her favorite horse has come to us. How pleased she will be after
• 5:52:00
  this. I was driven every day for a week or so, and as
• 5:52:03
  I appeared to be quite safe, Miss Lavigna at last ventured out in the
• 5:52:08
  small close carriage. After this it was quite decided to keep me and call
• 5:52:15
  me by my old name of Black Beauty. I have now lived in this
• 5:52:21
  happy place a whole year. Joe is the best and kindest of grooms.
• 5:52:26
  My work is easy and pleasant, and I feel my strength and spirits all
• 5:52:32
  coming back again. Mister Thoroughgood said to Joe the other day, in your
• 5:52:37
  place, he will last till he is twenty years old, perhaps more.
• 5:52:42
  Willie always speaks to me when he can, and treats me as his special
• 5:52:48
  friend. My ladies have promised that I shall never be sold, and so
• 5:52:55
  I have nothing to fear. And here my story ends. My troubles are
• 5:53:00
  all over, and I am at home, and often before I am quite
• 5:53:07
  awake, I fancy I am still in the orchard at Bertwick, standing with
• 5:53:12
  my old friends under the apple trees. End of chapter forty nine,