NEWMARKET 173 



been strangely altered. Going by the quidnuncs' 

 stories, I might not have been surprised to see 

 the noble steed's long-visaged napper thrown into 

 greater prominence than ever by having his mane 

 hogged, while as for his tail — well, you know the 

 pictures of the old-fashioned hunter with a short 

 dock, suggesting that a dog-fancier had done it 

 with his teeth — and a three-cornered remains of 

 a caudal appendage, about as useless as it was 

 inelegant, and almost a replica of a trimmed fight- 

 ing-cock's. You are familiar with such animal 

 sketches, of which early proofs are turned out 

 every week by the thousand — date and all, while 

 you wait. So you know what sort of apparition 

 I was prepared to be startled by, say, the 'big 

 bony Colonial all Elgin marble elegance in the 

 bows, and Tom-and-Jerry trimmed aft. His 

 manners, too, had been disparaged, and much 

 made of his invincible predilection for going off 

 to the left, and altogether I felt I might be on 

 the line of an abortional phenomenon. '' Instead 

 of which," there was old Moifaa, with his honest, 

 unbeautiful face, just the same powerful chap as 

 ever, brightened up on his coat, certainly, with a 

 nice mane, and his tail — long flowing tail — no 

 more cut off, as they said, than was your beard, 

 my good reader, when you went to the hair- 

 dresser to have the points taken off so as to 

 spruce you up a little. 



Between Moifaa in his old stable at Epsom 

 and Moifaa at Egerton House, Newmarket, is 

 much the same difference as with any of us in 

 working trim and got-up a little for an occasion 

 — no more for sure. He never looked better so 

 long as I have known him, nor could he have 

 moved better. His peculiarity of hanging to the 



