128 THE POCKET AND THE STUD. 1 



I 

 go close upon hiding away their half-bushel each, ; 



with chaff; and for some old horses, beans with ' 



it : but they earn it : their exhaustion of animal I 



power is great, and their consumption of hay is — i 



or, at least, ought to be — a mere trifle. Doubt- i 



less, from this allowance of oats in the stable, there \ 



is a little ** shouldering," as there is from the \ 



coach on the road : but where we cannot always I 



be present, and must trust to subordinates, the > 



only way is to make a fair, liberal, but not profuse ; 



allowance ; and if things on that allowance are j 



done well, it is bad policy to notice any little | 



advantage those subordinates may drive on par- ; 



ticular occasions. For instance, a coach-owner :: 



whom I knew employed a horsekeeper on a par- i 



ticularly fast stage — in coaching language, " both | 



sides of the road " — that is, both going and coming, j^ 



The man's horses did well and looked well ; but I 



he, like many horsekeepers, was partial to poultry, f 



liked fresh eggs to eat, and his wife liked them to j 



sell — in short, he had a very pretty little com-r 



munity of the feathered tribe. His employer,! 



with that shortsightedness that characterises many . 



persons, desired the man to sell off his stock — ' 



partridge-breasted game, poles, and dorkings. ; 



Going up the road some time afterward, he found 



this had not been done : he dismissed the man on 



the spot. His successor did not allow a feather 



to flutter on the premises, but he had his ^^ pen- 



