i68 The Trotter. 



everything. He felt quite easy after he had seen the fashion in 

 which the horse went with his new jockey, and remarked quietly 

 to me, "I'll lay he breaks three times in the first mile." 



The start was fixed for two, from a milestone which stood about 

 five hundred yards below the Woolpack; and the conditions of the 

 match were that the horses should trot two miles straight away for 

 the first heat, rest half an hour, and then come back over the same 

 ground for the second heat; and, if it came to a "who shall," the 

 odd trick was to be played out over the same ground as the first heat. 



As the time drew near, I dare say a couple of thousand people had 

 assembled country gentlemen, hard-riding farmers, fast tradesmen, 

 sporting butchers, on what they deemed fast-trotting cobs jostling 

 each other and talking loud, with ah 1 that freedom of speech and 

 manner so peculiarly characteristic of the horsey mob which one 

 usually sees brought together when a trotting match takes place, 

 and last, not least, all the roughs in the neighbourhood, with whom 

 Sam had always been an immense favourite, and who came pre- 

 pared to give old Morgan an ovation on winning, for they could 

 never believe that anything living could beat the old horse. These 

 latter gentry formed no inconsiderable a body in the ranks of 

 the spectators, and I almost feared that, should our mare get the 

 best of it, they would bring it to a wrangle. However, nothing of 

 the sort happened, and the match was run fairly out from end to 

 end. 



At about ten minutes to two, old Morgan was driven slowly down 

 to the starting-place; and directly his well-known colours crimson 

 and black were seen, a cheer rose, which proved that, among a 

 certain set, his old master was still a popular man. 



"Pity t' auld squire don't drive him hisself. Ay! but he's a 

 grand hoss," was passed from mouth to mouth. 



He was soon followed by the mare, old Jones looking quite smart 

 in his new Lincoln green and white cap. Although not greeted 

 with any enthusiasm, she still had her admirers, for she stepped along 

 as a rough observed, "as spry as an eel;" and "Ay! but she's a 



