126 THE WILLEY WHIPPER-IN. 



savage as lie was, and on a good road lie would pass 

 milestones as the clock measured minutes ; but give 

 him the green meadows, and Lord how I have seen 

 him whip along the turf ! '^ " He was like a winged 

 Mercury, making light both of stone walls and five- 

 feet six-inch gates. He was a regular centaur, for 

 he and his horse seemed one," said another. " I 

 cannot tell you the height of his horse," said a 

 third, *' but he was a big un ; whilst Tom himself 

 was a little one, and he used to be on horse-back all 

 day long. If he got into the saddle in a morning 

 he rarely left it till night." 



In giving the qualifications necessary for one 

 aspiring to the post of whipper-in, a well-known 

 authority on sporting subjects has laid it down that 

 he should be light (not too young), with a quick eye 

 and still quicker ear, and that he should be — what 

 in fact he generally is — fond of the sport, or he 

 seldom succeeds in his profession. Now Moody, or 

 Muddy, as his name was pronounced, answered to 

 these conditions. 



" His conversation had no other course 

 Than that presented to his simple view 

 Of what concerned his saddle, groom, or horse ; 

 Beyond this theme he little cared or knew : 



