"THE two thou. 31 



Saxon idiom is used ; and " if not on, will it be put on ? and if 

 not, how otherwise 1 " 



Many, earnest, and even stern were the several questions 

 put regarding the colt by Glitter, dam Comet, by Falling Star ; 

 and, as may be conjectured, many, earnest, and even stern 

 were the several answers given in reply. 



The public, as a body, with more heads than brains, an- 

 nounced itself " puzzled." The movements of the Great Stable 

 of the North had been watched, perhaps, by sleepy, heavy- 

 eyed watchmen, who, probably, as an excuse for their drowsi- 

 ness, frankly avowed that " there was no making out what was 

 meant. If pulled out for the Two Thou', Sunshine must win 

 in a trot ; but his stable-companion, Catch-me-who-can, might, 

 after all, be their horse ; and if so — well ! in that case every 

 guinea laid on Sunshine was as good as lost. It was like laying 

 against a dead-'un, and no possible loophole for the admission 

 "of a mistake." 



Mr. James Sloper smiled a meek, quiet, unpretending smile 

 as the day approached for making known what his decision had 

 long since been with regard to the most profitable tactics for 

 pulling off " the Two Thou'," as Puffy Doddles abbreviated the 

 first great spring prize. To apply a conventional phrase, Mr. 

 James Sloper was a man of very few words. He spoke as little, 

 perhaps, as any one gifted with the ordinary powers of speech ; 

 but, like a certain parrot, remarkable for silence, made good 

 the deficiency by the concentrated powers of thought. Had, 

 however, Mr. James Sloper given expression to those reflections 

 upon the subject to which reference is now being made, he 

 probably would have delivered himself something in this style : 



" "What's the public to me 1 It doesn't pay training ex's. 

 does it ? It doesn't pay entrance money, nor forfeits, nor make 

 good stakes, does it 1 It doesn't breed, rear, buy, break, nor 

 keep colts or yearlings, does it? It has nothing to do with 

 brood mares, sires, fees, foals, hay, straw, and corn, has it? 

 It doesn't tip for the mounts ; concerns itself nothing about 



