138 THK HITNTINC; FIELD 



tlicni in scarlet. A (irooin should never calciilatf on doinj^ 

 more than five miles an honr in going to cover. Some horses 

 will go six comfortaljly, but fi\'e is about the pace. The first 

 thing he should do on arrixing, of course, is to get his horse 

 into a stable or outhouse, where with the aid of a little clean 

 straw and a table towel, he will remove the mud sparks from 

 the horse's legs and reno\-ate the polish of the bits, buckles, 

 and stirrups. A damp morning soon clouds the steel. It is 

 these trifles that mark the difference between the Groom with 

 the head from the one without. Some men seem to think 

 if they start fair and clean, or are neat and clean, once a-day, 

 that is all that can be required of them, and that they may 

 get themselves, their horses, and all about them, dirt)-, 

 tarnished, and daubed, without any reflection on their care or 

 neatness. " They have got dirtied since they came out," they 

 say. A neat servant not only avoids all collision, but removes 

 little casualties as they occur. There is a wide difference 

 between a neat man and a smart man. The neat man is 

 always neat whatever he has on, the smart man is often the 

 creature of the moment that degenerates into the carelessness 

 of the sloven after a flourish. 



Lying out o\-er night and mixing in the tap-room societ}- of 

 stable-yards, is a sad trial for servants, and the less a master 

 throws them into that sort of temptation the better. It is 

 not only the drinking, swearing, and gambling that not 

 unfrequentl}' goes on, but tricks are taught that often prove 

 the ruin of lads : charging for things they never get, putting 

 down more than the\' pay, and various other devices that all 

 sooner or later end in ruin. Servants who wish to do justice 

 to themselves and their masters, should never pay anything 

 without getting a bill of particulars and a receipt. They 

 then can send them in along with their books, and if wrong 

 is done, the master sees where to a})pl\-, and the servant 



