VIX. 21 



extravagance. Not the least marked of her pecu- 

 liarities was her inordinate vanity. On a country 

 road, or among the workmen of the Park, she was 

 as staid and business-like as a parson's cob ; but 

 let a carriage or a party of visitors come in sight, 

 and she would give herself the prancing airs of a 

 circus horse, seeming to watch as eagerly for some 

 sign of approval, and to be made as happy by it, 

 as though she only lived to be admired. Many 

 a time have I heard the exclamation, "What a 

 beautiful horse ! " and Vix seemed to hear it too, 

 and to appreciate it quite as keenly as I did. A 

 trip down the Fifth Avenue in the afternoon was 

 an immense excitement to her, and she was more 

 fatigued by it than by a twenty-mile gallop. 

 However slowly she travelled, it was always with 

 the high springing action of a fast trot, or with 

 that long-stepping, sidelong action that the 

 French call cb deux pistes; few people allowed 

 her to pass without admiring notice. 



Her most satisfactory trait was her fondness 

 for her master; she was as good company as a 

 dog, — better, perhaps, because she seemed more 



