164 Our Noblest Friend, The Horse 



and absorbed, add many a long year to the future, 

 and many an enjoyable hour to the present. 



Fast horses are comparatively cheap nowadays, 

 and as a rule uncommonly well-broken. Your ster- 

 ling old campaigner of ten or twelve years of age 

 has been through so much excitement on race- 

 courses, and in travelling" on railroad trains, that 

 ht views with ecjuanimity sights that would appall 

 his juniors ; while the mere fact that, at such an age, 

 he is still able and well preserved, proves him robust 

 and well-constitutioned above the average of his 

 kind. He may display about him the honourable 

 scars of his calling- in prominent wind-galls, and 

 legs not quite as symmetrical as of yore, but you 

 buy him with all — or most — of his deficiencies 

 plainly visible, and as the fresh air hums by your 

 ears, and the flush of excitement dyes your cheeks, 

 you will find, in increased appetite and wholesome 

 sleep, many occasions to " rise up and call him 

 blessed," and to bear him ever in grateful recollec- 

 tion for the pleasure afforded you and yours. 

 The fast pacer is the easiest to find, the cheapest 



