ABOUT BUYING A HORSE. 141 



certain point he turns round, and comes back. Sometimes 

 with some one on him, and sometimes without. Sometimes 

 it is Murgle, sometimes it isn't. If it isn't, Murgle is follow- 

 ing. Whether with or without a rider, the horse is quite 

 amiable, quiet, cheerful, and, so to speak, polite. 



I can't complain of his " manners," they're good enough, 

 but his evident good breeding only makes his obstinacy 

 more irritating. 



The Railway Station is a mile from my house, and he 

 won't take me more than a hundred yards of the way. At a 

 hillock he stops and returns. Quite quietly and pleasantly, 

 I admit, but even this is not comforting when I see the 

 train arriving and leaving without me, and I have got some 

 important business in town. 



At the end of a fortnight, being put into harness, he 

 simply stands still, and won't stir one step out of the yard. 



He gains the daj', and is taken out of harness. He goes 

 back to his stable quite quietly, and is so gentle as to eat an 

 apple out of my Aunt's hand. 



But I didn't buy a horse merely to eat apples out of my 

 Aunt's hand. 



Happy Thought.— Send, for Trott. 



Trott is sent for. He can't make it out. Trott says, " he 

 wasn't like that when he was with /^zw," and proceeds to 

 give him the highest character. This implies that he has 

 learnt his obstinacy here : from me. I let Trott try him. 

 Trott is convinced, and re-buys him. 



I sell him back at a loss, and buy another — a clever hack. 



