"l^he Trotter. 131 



had died away in the distance, and then walked the mare gently up 

 the grass by the roadside to the turnpike-gate. The gig had, I 

 should fancy, driven by about ten minutes, and the old pikeman 

 had turned in for another snoose j but I soon pulled him out again, 

 and when I asked him who it was that had just gone through, his 

 answer was, " Sam West and Morgan Rattler, sir." 



" Did he ask you any questions ?" 



'' Well, sir, he did ask me who lived up at Maple Lodge -, and 

 when I told him Mr. Johnson, he asked if he had not got a fast 

 trotter, and I told him, ' Not as I knew on.' " 



" And what did he say then ?" 



'''Why, he just d d my eyes for a stupid, know-nothing old 



fool, and drove on." 



Sam West and Morgan Rattler have now to be introduced to the 

 reader ; but to do the subject justice will require a chapter to 

 themselves. 



Mr. Samuel West, or, as he was always called, " Sam West,'* 

 was a character, and, if report spoke true, a very bad character too j 

 and when it is added that his old dun horse, Morgan Rattler, had 

 been the partner in one-half of his scrapes and escapades, we may 

 conclude that the old saying, *' Like master like man," would have 

 held as good in their case as in any other. Before, however, we touch 

 upon their histories, they may as well both of them give us one 

 brief sitting for their portraits. 



Sam West at this time was a fine, handsome, gentlemanly- 

 looking man of about fifty, stood six feet high, had a commanding 

 figure, witli a very broad chest, and arms that indicated immense 

 muscular strength. His face bore a manly, open expression, and 

 his bronze cheek was tinted with the florid glow of rude health. 

 His features were regular, and, had it not been for a slight indenta- 

 tion of the bridge of the nose and the loss of two front teeth, would 

 have been faultless 5 and no one who looked at that mild blue eye, 

 and quiet, generally thoughtful countenance, could ever have guessed 

 that so much devilry lurked under so handsome a mask. His whole 

 dress and appearance, clean and strict to the letter, without a shade 



K 2 



