RECOLLECTIONS OF MEN AND HORSES 



clature, sentiment again asserts its power. For in- 

 stance: aroused by the touching story of Tennyson, 

 a filly is christened Elaine and a colt Lancelot, and 

 the caresses showered upon the foals leave a shining 

 trail through a forest of memories. The growth of 

 the new arrival is watched from day to day, from 

 month to month, and sentiment decorates the form 

 with virtues not apparent to dull and unresponsive 

 minds. The animal is associated with thought when 

 a walk is taken in the pasture, is nursed with the 

 tenderness of a child when sick, and is remembered 

 with food and shelter when winter storms heap deso- 

 lation on the landscape. If commercial spirit in- 

 trude upon the scene and a sale is made, sad eyes 

 follow the young prince or princess down the road 

 and a sigh escapes the lips when the object of tender 

 regard fades utterly from view. Elaine may never 

 return to the farm where she was bred, but he who 

 with God-like power evolved her from the gray mists 

 and high lights of the brain sits on the piazza with 

 green fields before him, far removed from the dust 

 and friction of the campaign, and eagerly devours 

 the reports which come to him by mail or wire of 

 her victories and defeats. And Lancelot appeals with 

 equal strength to the imagination. What he is doing 

 and what he is likely to do are questions of deep 

 interest. Will the imperial mantle of Electioneer, 

 eldest son of Green Mountain Maid, descend to him, 

 the youngest of the family, or will some other mem- 

 ber of the house take rank above him ? Time alone 

 can answer. Thus fancy is continually under whip 

 and spur, and the breeder lives in an atmosphere of 

 sweet retrospect and daring hope. A web of fascina- 

 tion is woven around the work by sentiment, and 

 through triumph and failure the fires of that ambition 



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