10 STABLE SECRETS. 



event with which they were unquestionably associated, he drew 

 a long breath, bearing close affinity to a sigh, and exclaimed, in 

 a much louder tone than he was even conscious of himself, " I 

 wonder if / shall ever have a mount for a Great St. Leger !" 



"That '11 a good deal depend upon yourself, my lad,' v re- 

 turned a voice ; and upon Puffy Doddles turning quickly, with 

 great confusion of manner, to the quarter whence it came, he 

 perceived that a stranger stood within a few inches of his elbow. 



Puffy Doddles was upon his feet in as short a space of time 

 as the movement permitted, and created a first favourabla 

 impression upon the stranger by making a respectful, if not a 

 polite, bow in acknowledgment of his presence. 



" That '11 a good deal depend upon yourself, my lad," re- 

 peated the stranger, occupying a seat. " But not altogether so," 

 added he, measuring Puffy Doddles with a look which, begin- 

 ning deliberately at his heels, ended somewhere about the 

 back part of his neck. 



A pause ensuing at this juncture, which Puffy Doddles 

 felt to be almost painful, he ventured to break the monotony 

 of the reigning silence by remarking that " he was only a- talk- 

 ing to himself." 



"Better that, lad, than a worse companion," rejoined the 

 stranger. "You know who / am 1 " he added, interrogatively. 



" My new master, I — I — I suppose, sir," responded Puffy 

 Doddles, with a hesitating, deferential air ; " Mr. James Sloper." 



" Pvight," returned Mr. James Sloper, with an approving 

 nod of the head. " We seem to know quite enough about each 

 other at present. Go out of that door," continued he, pointing 

 to the only one by which either ingress or egress .could be made 

 to the apartment, " turn to the right, then twice short to the 

 left, and you'll find yourself near enough to the saddle-room to 

 ask for the head lad, George Spindles. Pie will give you orders 

 what you are to do, and " — here Mr. James Sloper raised a 

 straightforward forefinger, by way of telegraphing more than 

 ordinary attention to the concluding part of the sentence he 



