MR. HARRY GOODALL 19 



so pleasant and nice, that if I began to talk to him, I'd 

 "be certain to buy a horse or two, whether I wanted them 

 or not." " Has he ever stuck you with a wrong one ? " asked 

 his companion. "On the contrary," replied the timid one, 

 "the only time I had a deal with him, he sold me at a 

 moderate price the best animal I have ever owned. But 

 I felt the influence of his charming manners so strong on 

 me, that when I got outside the gate, I could not help 

 wondering that he had not made me buy every horse 

 in his stable ! Since then, I have vowed never to go 

 near the place myself; but when I want a horse, I send 

 to him some unimpressionable friend to execute my com- 

 mission." 



When we went to Melton, I had a notion of supplement- 

 ing our slender income by veterinary practice. That field, 

 unfortunately for us, was then fully occupied by Mr. Harry 

 Goodall, who was not only an excellent practitioner, but was 

 also a good horseman and a very pleasant companion. He 

 often dropped in to have a chat with us, and if he had any- 

 thing to drink, it usually took the form of a cup of tea, as 

 he was particularly abstemious. The first time we had the 

 pleasure of giving him that innocent beverage, the con- 

 versation turned on the town people. We asked if he saw 

 much of them ? " This cup of tea which I have in my hand," 

 he replied, "is the first refreshment I have received without 

 a formal invitation in Melton for the thirty years I have been 

 here." He could not have described in a better way the 

 stiffness and gloom of lower middle class English society. 

 No wonder that husbands seek refuge in the tap-room of 

 the nearest public-house, where they can meet their friends 

 without ceremony. The social ambition and the self-consci- 

 ousness of the ladies make them regard the most casual visit 

 as a full-dress parade, which is uncomfortable to both hosts 

 and guests. We meet the same thing among the same class 



