FUBTHEli BXPHRIENCES OF MR. STALE. 
until at last the towel was thrown into the kitchen 
verandah, from which it was quickly picked up by the 
coolie, in order to complete his finishing stroke of 
cleaning the dishes. The horsekeeper catches hold of 
the reins and proceeds to drag the animal up to the 
front door, but the horse is very reluctant to make a 
movement, indeed the action more nearly represents 
the dragging along of a huge ungainly weight than the 
leading of a horse, whose front feet seem to be slowly 
lifted by the force acting on the reins, and the 
hind feet trailed along in a sympathetic motion with 
the front ones. The drag and strain on the bridle 
being thus very severe, suddenly the under chop strap 
gives way, having split at its junction with the larger 
one ; the result of course is, that the horsekeeper 
staggers a few steps forward with the whole of the 
bridle in his hand, which had completely slipped off 
the horse’s head. The animal, to his astonishment 
finding himself very unexpectedly at liberty, did 
what many of his superior grades of animals, do under 
the same circumstances suddenly, from a state of 
dreamy inaction, became all alive and quite frisky ; 
he threw up his tail, shook his head, then put it 
down low over his legs^ starting off down the road at a 
smart gallop, pursued with loud shouts by all the 
residents in the kitchen who had been anxiously 
watching, impatiently expecting a departure in a very 
different way. The noise behind merely made him 
gallop the faster until be could not resist stop- 
ping, on approaching a patch of guinea grass into 
which he entered and commenced to graze. ‘‘Now for 
it,” cry the kitchen squad as they cautiously ap- 
proach. The boy being the first, as being the most 
interested in master’s speedy departure makes a dart, 
and so also does the horse— off another fifty yards, 
where he again proceeds to tear away at the grass. 
After this little game has gone on for some time, an 
idea strikes the horsekeeper who runs off and returns 
with the stable paddy sifter (a sort of flat open basket) 
in which are a few handfuls of parldy : this he throws 
up in the air in the usual accomplished style of 
stablemen, and as it again descends makes a rattling 
sound, which always commands the respectful atten- 
tion of an intelligent horse. He hears the well-known 
sound, looks up and sees the well known basket, 
stretches forth bis neck in a longing manner actually 
makes a few steps forward to meet his expectant 
capturers, when just as his nose is about to plunge into 
the grain his eyes catch sight of the end of a rope 
dangling from the other hand of the horsekeeper, 
behind his back. Quickly his mouth is plunged amongst 
the paddy, and as quickly removed, quite full ; off he 
