OUR DEBT TO THE ARAB 29 



most noted horse of his period, his place in the 

 annals of the English race-horse is a matter of 

 record. 



This celebrated horse, whose original name was 

 Scham, was one of several choice animals that 

 were sent as a present to the King of France by 

 the Bey of Tunis. Each, as the proper accom- 

 paniment of so princely a gift, had an attendant 

 Moorish slave as groom. Scham's groom, Agba, 

 seems to have been a man thoroughly versed in 

 the horsemanship of his country and fully aware 

 of the great value of his charge, which he had 

 trained and attended from birth. But the pres- 

 ent, splendid as it was, made little impression on 

 the French king. The finely-formed, nervous ani- 

 mals were of a type to which he was unaccustomed 

 and of which he knew nothing; differing totally 

 from the heavy French stock, they seemed to him 

 small, insignificant, and, in a word, of little value. 

 He gave the slaves their liberty and directed his 

 master of the stables to sell the horses for what 

 they would bring. Scham was thus acquired by a 

 drunken teamster, who drove a garbage-cart, and 

 put to work in his new owner's business. What 

 became of the others is unknown. 



Agba was separated from his charge and for 

 many weeks knew nothing of his whereabouts. 

 But he was keenly alive to the fact that, however 



