The Leather Plater. 289 



went on at the sailor with " Did not I tell you five minutes ago that 

 I never gave anything to vagrants?" " Oh, yes," said the man; 

 " but I did not come to you to beg for anything j I only came back 

 to tell you something I forgot when I was here just now." Old 

 Radford's curiosity was aroused, and still holding the knob of the 

 door in his hand, he asked the man what it was. "Well," said the 

 sailor, "I've been all over the world, and among all kinds of people, 



but I never before in my life did see such an ugly old as you 



are. I thought you might like to know it. Good-morning, 

 master." Old Cleaver, the butcher, who happened to be in the 

 parlour settling for some beasts, heard the conversation, and he 

 did not forget to retail so good a joke. 



The time had now arrived when I must either beard the lion in 

 his den must pay a visit to Shark's Lodge, see old Jack Radford, 

 and have a look at the "bay colt out of Plover," or run the risk 

 of forfeiting the respect of my esteemed friend John Harrison for 

 ever. I had, through his instrumentality, sold my brown horse 

 for eighty guineas to the stables up at the Hall not, however, for 

 the use of Charley, the first whip : the master taking a fancy to 

 him, he at once went into his private stables, carried him for nearly 

 ten years with the hounds, and never gave him a fall. He always 

 declared that he was the safest as well as the cheapest horse he 

 ever rode. Well, one afternoon, very early in April, I left the 

 hounds running a ringing fox up and down The Hangers, and rode 

 up to Holliwell village. I did not choose to ride up direct to 

 Shark's Lodge, because I felt pretty certain that I should have to tie 

 my horse up to the garden rails while I went in $ so I rode up to 

 the Five Bells where, as the sign-board boasted, there was 

 "excellent accommodation for man and beast." The old black- 

 smith led my horse into a rude but very warm stable for it was a 

 thatched hovel, with every crevice and air-hole stopped up with 

 straw j and, throwing an old sack over his loins, I gave him a feed 

 of corn and made him as comfortable as circumstances would allow. 

 I was rather surprised to see that my horse was not the only occupant 

 of the shed, for a large, slashing, bang-tailed black horse, with a 



u 



