AN ENGLISH SQUIRE 49 



the " shelties " that run loose in his " parks," and 

 bear him out to his remoter beats, or bring home 

 his deer or the heavy game-hampers. The squire's 

 stables, so far as they go, are among the most complete 

 in the county, and the horses that fill their stalls are 

 as the very apples of his eyes. He does not live 

 in the " shires," as may be surmised from our descrip- 

 tions of the scenery. He does not profess to have 

 an interminable string, the half of them on the sick- 

 list or eating their heads off, so that he may hunt 

 himself with second horses five days in the week, allow 

 for casualties and the caprices of a stud-groom, and 

 mount a friend or two on occasion. But the best 

 part of his neighbourhood may be described as "a 

 fair hunting country," though it is a trifle cramped 

 about his own domains ; and he takes care to mount 

 himself that he may be carried comfortably with a 

 stone or a couple of stones to spare, though prices 

 are high enough in any case, and go up in arithmetical 

 progression for every pound above a certain point. 

 He does a little in the breeding way himself. One 

 of his largest tenants is regularly in that line of 

 business ; and more than one dealer makes a point 

 of breaking his journey at the neighbouring inn on 

 his way homewards from Horncastle or elsewhere. 

 There are worse places to smoke a cigar in of a 

 winter morning, when the hounds are frozen up hard 

 and fast in their kennels, than the warmed and well- 

 ventilated seven-stall stable, when the old head-groom 

 goes stripping the clothing, passing his hand along 



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