126 THE HUNTING-FIELD. 



point of view, and Tiill call in tlie aid of tlie im- 

 mortal Dick Christian to help us. He once came 



from Leicestershire commissioned by Lord 



to buy a horse I had : he was by Thunderbolt 

 out of Delta, by Delpini, — well-bred enough ; 

 in short, he had been named for a Derby. While 

 with me, he had been used as a stud-horse, so I 

 hinted I feared his lordship would find him some- 

 what noisy among a crowd of horses : " Oh,^^ said 

 Dick, " my lord loves a bit of music.^' I sold him 

 the horse, and, I regret to say, I afterwards 

 learned that, though the best-tempered animal in 

 creation, simply because he knuckered more than 

 his lordship liked when among horses, he made 

 the poor animal undergo an operation to prevent 

 it, though then thirteen years old. I would not 

 have sold him, at any price, had I anticipated such 

 a result. 



Now, I should say. Christian was just the kind 

 of man to help a gentleman to a hunter : no man 

 could hunt in Leicestershire without being known 

 by him, and the particular sort of horse suited to 

 every man hunting there. He always knew the 

 real value of every horse known there, — first, 

 second, or third class; and supposing a hunter 

 not to suit Leicestershire, Christian could always 

 help a man to a hunter for other countries : buy- 

 ing by his recommendation, no one would be de- 



