THE DEALER, 119 



Pleasantly warm, without being in the least close, 

 scrupulously clean and beautifully neat in those little 

 details which concern appearance as well as health and 

 comfort, Scratton's stables must have been a home 

 which their inmates quitted with regret ; for here the 

 happy mean was evidently reached, and the horses 

 neither suffered from the carelessness on the one hand, 

 nor the excessive pampering on the other, which bring 

 on so many of the complaints that equine flesh is 

 heir to. 



Overfeeding, want of regular exercise, and the atmo- 

 sphere of a stable the temperature of a hothouse do 

 more damag"e than many kind masters imagine. 



"Fine horse that!" I exclaimed, as a groom, at a 

 signal from his master, loosened the clothes on a big 

 thoroughbred-looking brown. 



" He is indeed, sir ; almost the best horse in my 



stable. He carried the Marquis of W so well 



through the great run last season at Blackbrook that 

 the gentleman I bought him from wrote next morning 

 to offer 600 guineas. He was too much of a horse for 

 his new owner, however, and I was glad to give the 

 price for him. That's the mare my servant was on last 

 Tuesday ; I picked her up very cheap in Ireland at the 

 sale of Lord Wallaway's stud— ^200 — a great bargain 

 and a beautiful jumper ; do you care to try her over the 

 hurdles? Perhaps she's scarcely up to your weight, 

 sir," he continued, seeing that I hesitated, for though 

 disposed to buy a horse if I found one that I cared for, 



