254 



ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 



I believe, they are disposed of at auction ; and inas- 

 much as a certain distinction attaches to them even in 

 decrepitude, they always bring a little more than they 

 are worth as beasts of burden. At most, however,- 

 they sell for a song, Broken down horses are bought 

 by poor men ; they have scant}' fare, little or no cloth- 

 ing, hard boards to lie on, and. commonly, severe toil 

 to endure. 



The cast-off fire horse must sadly miss his good oats 

 and hay, his clean, warm stable and comfortable bed, 

 his elaborate grooming and gentle treatment, his com- 

 panions, brute and human, the caresses and sweet- 

 meats to which he was daily treated. Eemoved from 

 all these luxuries, his life broken up by a sudden and 

 painful revulsion, we may be sure that the equine 

 veteran, who spent his best years in helping to save 

 our property from destruction, must very shortly 

 present a spectacle of misery and despair. The 

 next bony animal that the reader sees pulling a 

 tip-cart may be a once proud and petted fire horse, 

 for whom the only possible boon is now the axe of 

 the knacker. 



