100 THE HUNTING-riELD. 



will pass no decided opinion on eitlier of your 

 nags till to-morrow. 



^^ We have now only one left ; may I ask 

 where you got that black mountain of flesh in 

 the last stall ? " 



^' AYhy/^ said my friend^ " is he not a fine 

 horse ? " 



" He certainly is a fine large animal/^ replied 

 I ; " but until he is relieved of about a ton of 

 that superabundant flesh, one can form about as 

 correct a judgment of his anatomy as of that of a 

 flea in a feather bed : I fear he is too fat to be 

 good. Pray how long have yon had him ? " 



" I bought him/^ said my friend, '^ last May 

 out of a stud." 



" And we are now in September/^ said I, " so 

 this movable mass of blubber has been under 

 Mr. Forester^s care four months." 



" It is quite true," said my friend ; " but, as yon 

 know, I have not been much here, so I left the 

 horses to him." 



" And he left them to themselves," replied I, 

 " if one may judge of their condition, with the ex- 

 ception of the first bay, who, luckily for himself 

 and you, is a late purchase." 



'^ I told Forester," replied my friend, " I 

 thought the black horse by far too gross ; but he 

 said he always liked to see horses ' with a good 

 bit on them ' before they began their training." 



