]yiIO WON THE KEAUL WORTH CUP. 199 



such a sorry lot of beasts in all my life — I wouldn't have 

 given ^5 a head for the whole collection. Achates was 

 the most likel}' looking, so I started on him. There 

 wasn't much time, for it was past six, and I didn't want 

 to be late for dinner ; so I set off, thinking that I had 

 my work cut out. I was never so astonished in my life ! 

 To do Bullfinch justice, he can jump for ten minutes or 

 so ; but he was nothing to this beast, who went at 

 everything as if it had been made for him." 



"Did Manners christen him r" 



"Yes," Dick replied. "He bought him because he 

 was an excellent match for a horse he used to drive in a 

 dog-cart, and thought the pair would go well in double- 

 harness. I don't suppose Manners was ever what you'd 

 call educated : he picked up scraps of knowledge here 

 and there, but at the tobacco manufactory in White- 

 chapel, where he found most of them, the classics did 

 not flourish ; however, he had heard the term Jidus 

 Achates in relation to intim.ate friendship, and it occurred 

 to him that Fidus and AcJiatcs were probably brothers 

 who were much devoted to each other, so he named the 

 beasts accordingly and harnessed them to the phaeton. 

 Achates was a perfect match for Fidus, but he was a 

 good deal more than a match for the coachman. You 

 see, as far as harness went, he was entirely unbroken ; 

 but it was different with the carriage — that was broken 

 up small. He was a very willing sort of horse, but he 

 didn't understand the business — didn't enter into the 

 spirit of the thing at all — and when he saw the lodge 



