226 Among Men and Horses. 



man. I pointed out that according to the text beloved of 

 John Hubert Moore, that they who take by the sword, shall 

 perish by the sword. Dalston answered very meekly that he 

 did not feel at all inclined to die, and that he would be 

 very grateful if I would help him to go to Durban where 

 he knew a publican who would give him a job in his bar. 

 I paid his passage, and as I said good-bye to him on board 

 the steamer, I was delighted to see that the ' hunted ' look 

 which had of late become habitual to his face, was replaced 

 by a happy, thankful expression of deliverance. We met 

 again at the close of my tour at Natal. He was behind 

 a bar and doing well. 'Dalston,' I said, 'you ought to 

 take up my game and run a show in a lot of places I 

 have left out. You would make heaps of money ; as you 

 know all the business.' ' Serving drink at a bar is good 

 enough for me,' he replied. ' I would not go near a horse 

 if you gave me a ^iooo.' I laughed at this, as it re- 

 minded me of the mule ; and to show I was friendly with 

 him, I gave him a ticket for our show, and hoped he would 

 come. He promised he would do so ; but he was probably 

 afraid that he might tumble up against another mule ; for 

 he gave his ticket to someone else and stayed away. 



To illustrate the way in which a real showman would 

 endeavour to turn disaster into profit, I may recount the two 

 following incidents which befell Sample. On one occasion, 

 the great American tamer, while holding a class, got into 

 a light trap to which a horse that he had put through his 

 system was harnessed. It seems that all the ' stuffing ' had 

 not been taken out of the animal ; for, as it was being driven 

 round the ring, it kicked, plunged, and finally upset the 

 cart on top of Sample. Horror-stricken, the members of the 

 class rushed into the ring to extricate their teacher from his 

 perilous position. ' Keep outside of the ring, gentlemen, 

 please ! ' called out Sample from under the cart, ' I am just 

 showing you how not to do it.' He then hailed Joe, who pulled 

 him out of harm's way. Sample adjusted his gear, gave the 



