SHORT^ SHARP, AND DECISIVE. 89 



for your delectable stud-grooin, give liim a montVs 

 wages, pay Lis way back to where lie came from, 

 give liim a couple of sovereigns extra to soften 

 his prompt dismissal, and start him by the first 

 conveyance in the morning ; you can give as a 

 reason for dismissing him that you intend to take 

 charge of your horses yourself/^ 



This was done, ]Mr. Forester looking daggers 

 and hatchets at me. 



^' Being gone,^^ said I, " I am a man again: and 

 now permit me to tell you that though a really 

 intelligent, respectful, and respectable stud-groom 

 is a most valuable appendage to a stud of twenty 

 hunters, to keep one for five is quite out of the 

 question. J\Iake the groom who has charge of 

 your hacks, your head, but not stud groom : 

 this will save you a couple of hundred a year at 

 least, by ridding you of Mr. Forester^s expenses, 

 and will perhaps save twice as much by your 

 horses being in proper form w^hen you want them. 

 And now I will, as you desire, give my opinion of 

 the stud. 



" The first horse I looked at, if he is not a 

 regular impostor as to looks, is one I should say 

 could go in any country : I consider him in shape 

 and make as perfect as any man can reasonably 

 expect to find a horse ; he is, I should say, the 

 very precise size a hunter for general hunting 

 should be. Fifteen three, yet short on his legs, 



