36 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 



horse, four years old, long, gangling, ewe- 

 necked ; such a brute as no one but a con- 

 fident disciple of Baucher would have had 

 anything to do with. Had he hunted the 

 country for a horse with but one merit, that 

 of soundness, and possessing that only be- 

 cause nothing had ever been done to injure 

 it, he could not have been better suited. 

 It was painful to see a good rider in such 

 a quandary as he appeared when mounted 

 upon this animal; but a quiet, confident 

 smile showed what was intended to come 

 of it. 



In six weeks from that time, without the 

 horse ever having crossed the threshold of 

 the stable-yard, the writer saw him with his 

 neck arched like the steed in Holy Writ, 

 his haunches well under him, obedient to 

 the lightest touch of hand or heel, ready 

 to do anything that was demanded of him, 



