162 MEMORIES OF MEN AND HORSES 



to undergo an operation of a serious character, and 

 whether the tumour dealt with was a malignant growth 

 or not could not be immediately discovered. It was 

 just before the late Mr J. B. Haggin was to sell off 

 his immense stud a sale which was to occupy six days. 



I went to see Easton after his operation, and found 

 him so weak he could not sit up in bed without my 

 helping him. He said he was returning to New York 

 by that week's boat to conduct the Haggin sale, and, 

 thanks to two nurses, he did in fact make that voyage, 

 and he did work through the whole six days' sale on 

 arrival. He had to do it from a chair, of course, and 

 the first day's work brought on a very high temperature, 

 but he battled through to the end of the last day. 



Then, too, a few months later, when he came to 

 England again to see the doctors, they had by that 

 time discovered that the growth they had cut out was 

 a malignant one. So far from being daunted by this 

 report, he told them to go the devil ; said he didn't 

 believe a word of what they said, and went back to 

 the States, where he did good work for two more 

 years. 



There had been no mistake in the diagnosis, but 

 there is no doubt that his courage deferred the end 

 for those two years. 



Americans are not readily understood by people in 

 this country, who are slower of thought and imagination, 

 but I think I understand them fairly well. Thus the 

 late Mr H. P. Whitney throughout a long period used 

 to write to me for advice on breeding questions, but 

 never even acknowledged the answers. When Saintly 

 with a foal by Trenton and covered by him again was 

 coming up for sale from Cobham, he wrote to ask me 



