314 Among Men and Horses. 



I tried to point out that the fact of my having ' found ' the 

 ^50 entitled me to a voice in the matter. He begged me 

 to let him play his own game, and declared that my money 

 was safe. As the contest was to last a fortnight, the time 

 on each evening being divided equally between the two, 

 and as I felt certain that the old man would sooner die 

 than get beaten ; I let him have his own way, and looked 

 on. In the meantime, my wife had found out the dressing- 

 room which had been improvised into a loose-box for several 

 of the supposed man-eaters and equine demons which had 

 been brought to be tamed. Knowing only that they had 

 been led through the streets and through the narrow pas- 

 sage at the back of the stage, and seeing that they looked 

 kindly at her, she gave them carrots, patted each of them 

 on the neck, and made friends with them. When, after 

 they were brought on the stage, she heard their characters 

 traduced in the severest possible manner, instead of smiling, 

 she got quite cross. After her inspection of the country, 

 she told me that the referee, who was the representative of 

 the Sporting Life, had got Sample, during my absence, to 

 sign a certain paper. On hearing this I went to Sample 

 and asked him what was the nature of the document which 

 he had signed. He told me it was a private affair of no 

 consequence. 



The show commenced by Sample in dress clothes coming 

 forward on the stage and making a speech in a good deal of 

 his old ' taking ' style. Greatly to my regret for his own 

 sake, he looked nervous and worried, and consequently lost 

 touch with his audience, which preferred to see something 

 done, than to listen. He at last began operations by getting 

 the machine, which had been mounted on wheels and which 

 contained a horse that was shy of steam-engines, drawn on to 

 the stage. Sample then connected the revolving apparatus 

 of the machine with a small steam-engine which he had at 

 the side, in order to make the horse-box spin round, and to 

 render the imprisoned animal giddy. But as the stage had a 



