258 HORSE AND MAN. 



from running away with me. I shall also put on 

 blinkers, so that he can see neither to the right nor 

 left, and think that under these circumstances I shall 

 be tolerably safe.— C. F. W.' 



There is only one argument which is in the 

 slightest degree in favour of the blinker. Among 

 horses and among mankind there are sure to be 

 some who have the strongest disinclination to do any 

 work that they can get any one else to do for them ; 

 and with them, as with us, this inclination becomes 

 stronger as they grow older and more artful. So, 

 when a pair are driven, one being a willing horse and 

 the other a slug, the latter will shirk his share of the 

 work, and leave it to his companion. 



I saw just such a pair while I was in Boston, 

 Mass. They belonged to one of my friends, and as 

 we were driving, I asked him why he put blinkers 

 on his horses, and why those blinkers were quite 

 unlike the usual form. He said that he was as much 

 opposed to the blinker as myself, and would not 

 use it until compelled by the laziness and cunning of 

 one of the horses. 



The animal could pull quite as well as his com- 

 panion, but he was a slug and a swindler. He always 

 contrived to keep his eye on his master, and as long 

 as he saw that he was watched, he did his fair share 

 of the work ; but, if the driver's attention were 



