Hoof Beats 



his small ears and snake-like head and neck from 

 his f ather,he got an extraordinary breadth of bone, 

 a pair of quarters that couldn't be matched in 

 Virginia, and some good hard common sense from 

 his mother. 



But the Marquis was sixteen years of age and 

 he had been blistered, fired and turned out to pas- 

 ture, which made the Marquis feel a good deal as 

 it would an old veteran, who was being pensioned 

 off at a soldier's home. The court that passed 

 sentence on him consisted of Fullerton himself, 

 which in itself was difficult for the Marquis to 

 overlook, and Taylor the best "vet" in the South . 

 The latter, squatting on his heels by the Mar- 

 quis's foreleg, ran his hand carefully and skillfully 

 over the tendon, then looked up at Fullerton and 

 shook his head. 



"He'll never gallop again," he said slowly; 

 "he's been a great horse — but never again." 



For a moment Fullerton looked away, out over 

 the broad sweeping stretches of green fields and 

 fences — big fences they were, too, and stone walls 

 with a rail or two laid across, that made a horse 

 pick up his feet well under him and do his level 

 best each time — and Fullerton was afraid to look 

 back again at the Marquis, who was playfully 

 nipping his arm with the special privilege of old 

 friendship. So Fullerton strode off to the house 

 without a word, and called for old black Ephram. 

 12 



