THE TALKING HORSE

It was on the way to Sandown Park that I met him first, on that horriblywet July afternoon when Bendigo won the Eclipse Stakes. He sat oppositeto me in the train going down, and my attention was first attracted tohim by the marked contrast between his appearance and his attire: he hadnot thought fit to adopt the regulation costume for such occasions, andI think I never saw a man who had made himself more aggressively horsey.The mark of the beast was sprinkled over his linen: he wore snafflesleeve-links, a hard hunting-hat, a Newmarket coat, and extremely tighttrousers. And with all this, he fell as far short of the genuinesportsman as any stage super who ever wore his spurs upside down in ahunting-chorus. His expression was mild and inoffensive, and his waterypale eyes and receding chin gave one the idea that he was hardly to betrusted astride anything more spirited than a gold-headed cane. And yet,somehow, he aroused compassion rather than any sense of the ludicrous:he had that look of shrinking self-effacement which comes of a recenthumiliation, and, in spite of all extravagances, he was obviously a[Pg 2]gentleman; while something in his manner indicated that his naturaltendency would, once at all events, have been to avoid any kind ofextremes.

He puzzled and interested me so much that I did my best to enter intoconversation with him, only to be baffled by the jerky embarrassmentwith which he met all advances, and when we got out at Esher, curiosityled me to keep him still in view.

Evidently he had not come with any intention of making money. He avoidedthe grand stand, with the bookmakers huddling in couples, like hoarselovebirds; he kept away from the members' inclosure, where the Guards'band was endeavouring to defy the elements which emptied their via

...

THE TALKING HORSE

AND OTHER TALES

BY

F. ANSTEY

AUTHOR OF 'VICE VERSÂ' 'THE GIANT'S ROBE'
'THE PARIAH' ETC.

SECOND EDITION

LONDON
SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE
1892

[All rights reserved]

PREFACE

CONTENTS