The Leather Plater. 



steeple-chase rider, a swell horse-dealer, kidman (I could tell some- 

 how or other that he was not a regular horse-dealer), or stud-groom, 

 I could not for the life of me guess. I could see at once he was 

 not a gentleman j and he certainly did not belong to the hard- 

 riding crew of blackcoats that followed our hounds. He was a 

 stranger ; and I could never call to mind having seen him out in 

 our country. He had clearly not been out with the hounds that 

 day the drab trowsers and Wellingtons plainly told that; but 

 who or what he was, or what possible business such a dapper little 

 man could have in the frowsy old parlour of the Five Bells at 

 Holliwell, was a mystery which I was most anxious to solve. He 

 had hardly a speck of dirt on his well-polished Wellingtons. I 

 ventured to remark this ; and his reply soon told me all about the 

 man and his business. " Well," he said, " in general I do manage 

 to ride pretty clean j but the roads were good enough till I came 

 over the north road and got into this God-forgotten country." 

 " Have you ridden far ?" I asked. 



" Oh, about fifteen miles, from (mentioning our county 



town, where there were cavalry barracks). The fact is my chap was 

 out with your hounds about a fortnight ago, and he heard of a colt 

 in this very place which they told him was a well-bred 'un, and he 

 thought it might make a charger, and, perhaps, win our Cavalry 

 Cup in the autumn, so he sent me over to look at him. My 

 name's Turner, his stud-groom." 



" And who is your chap ?" I inquired. 



" Oh, Captain C., of the ," he answered : "you must have 



seen him out with your hounds." 



I certainly had seen the captain out with our hounds ; and, 

 moreover, I owed him a bit of a grudge for a little circumstance 

 which took place a short time before no doubt on the very day 

 that he had heard of "the bay colt out of Plover." The cap- 

 tain and I were riding at each other, and, as far as our horses went, 

 we were pretty equally matched j but, as for riding, I could not 

 hold a candle to the captain, who was one of the crack gentlemen 

 jocks of the day. We had got a little out of our line, and found 



