The Leather Plater, 289 



went on at the sailor with " Did not I tell you five minutes ago that 

 I never gave anything to vagrants?" " Oh, yes," said the manj 

 *' but I did not come to you to beg for anything j I only came back 

 to tell you something I forgot when I was here just now." Old 

 Radford's curiosity was aroused, and still holding the knob of the 

 door in his hand, he asked the man what it was. *^ Well," said the 

 sailor, "I've been all over the world, and among all kinds of people, 



but I never before in my life did see such an ugly old as you 



are. I thought you might like to know it. Good-morning, 

 master." Old Cleaver, the butcher, who happened to be in the 

 parlour settling for some beasts, heard the conversation, and he 

 did not forget to retail so good a joke. 



The time had now arrived when I must either beard the lion in 

 his den — must pay a visit to Shark's Lodge, see old Jack Radford, 

 and have a look at tlie "bay colt out of Plover," — or run the risk 

 of forfeiting the respect of my esteemed friend John Harrison for 

 ever. I had. through his instrumentality, sold my brown horse 

 for eighty guineas to the stables up at the Hall — not, however, for 

 the use of Charley, the first whip : the master taking a fancy to 

 him, he at once went into his private stables, carried him for nearly 

 ten years with the hounds, and never gave him a fall. He always 

 declared that he was the safest as well as the cheapest horse he 

 ever rode. Well, one afternoon, very early in April, I left the 

 hounds running a ringing fox up and down The Hangers, and rode 

 up to Holliwell village. I did not choose to ride up direct to 

 Shark's Lodge, because I felt pretty certain that I should have to tie 

 my horse up to the garden rails while I went in 5 so I rode up to 

 the Five Bells — where, as the sign-board boasted, there was 

 "^'excellent accommodation for man and beast." The old black- 

 smith led my horse into a rude but very warm stable — for it was a 

 thatched hovel, with every crevice and air-hole stopped up with 

 itraw^ and, throwing an old sack over his loins, I gave him a feed 

 of corn and made him as comfortable as circumstances would allow. 

 I was rather surprised to see that my horse was not the only occupant 

 of the shed, for a large, slashing, bang-tailed black horse, with a 



u 



