54 TALES OF PINK AND SILK. 



his best, but that he really could stand it no longer and that 

 he vras starting to seek a fortune elsewhere ; when he was in 

 a fair way of earning his living he would communicate with 

 Mr. Talbot and his parents, but not before. Efforts were made 

 to trace him, but without avail, and William Morgan was 

 given up as one of the lost ones. Years went by and many 

 changes took place in Market Blyton. Jabez Morgan's old 

 employer died, and his son took Jabez into partnership ; Mr. 

 Talbot was appointed vicar of Long Buckley, and took 

 a wife to assist him in his good work. Many trainers came 

 and went from the neighbourhood, some of the boys became 

 jockeys, some head lads, some mere grooms, and some few 

 drifted into the scum that unfortunately clings to horseracing. 



And now the racing world was beginning to ring with the 

 fame of a young jockey who had commenced " to witch the 

 world with noble horsemanship," Morgan Holland by name, 

 and who our readers will readily recognise as our young 

 friend William Morgan. He had been riding for two or three 

 years, and had already distinguished himself by winning 

 several races by sheer jockeyship ; offers of mounts were 

 pouring in on him, and he had just been secured by a 

 v/ell-known racing peer to ride his horse in an important 

 cup race. 



One morning he was cantering along a lane near the 

 town where he lodged, when the " ting-ting " of a bicycle bell 

 startled him, and then a big-bearded clergyman passed with 

 a cheery "Good morning!" Surely he knew that voice, 

 though it was long years since he had heard it. The clergy- 

 man slackened his pace till the horseman got abreast of him, 

 and said — 



" Can you tell me, sir, whether the Bilsdown Road or by 

 Little Downham is the nearer to Bychester ? " 



Then he looked fixedly at the other and exclaimed, "Why, 

 it's William Morgan, as I'm a sinner ! " 



