WILD SPORT IN BRITTANY. 229 



CHAPTER XX. 



NOTWITHSTANDING the signal victory obtained by the Jersey 

 horse-dealer over "Lunatique," the faith of his owner, butcher 

 Kenwyn, in the inherent vice of the animal continued firm as 

 ever; and under the conviction that another fight would ensue, 

 and then probably with a different result, at the cross-roads near 

 St. Katherine, he and many of the Carhaix people struggled after 

 us for more than a league out of the town. The butcher, how- 

 ever, did not enjoy his expected grin, for up to that point, and 

 beyond the bridge, Johnson and the " Lunatique " were still 

 trotting after the drag, and seemed inclined to pursue the even 

 tenor of their way amicably together for the rest of the day. 

 They were then lost to sight by the butcher and his friends, who, 

 on their return to Carhaix, expressed their chagrin in no measured 

 terms at the facility with which the horse had been mastered and 

 their sport marred, by the courage and skill of M. Johnson. 



But there was another and a better reason for butcher 

 Kenwyn's disappointment. Relying fully on the vicious habit 

 of the horse, he had agreed to sell him for a lower sum than 

 his intrinsic value, provided that on trial in the saddle the 

 animal gave satisfaction ; and that he was now likely to do so, 

 being a rare stepper, and only five years old, made him all but 

 crazy at the prospect of losing so serviceable a beast. However, 

 the day was not yet over ; and if, smarting keenly under a sense 



