Certainly I had no expectation of
his ever going on to the turf. How could one believe that any owner
would think of entering him for a race?
One morning my groom came to me and said, "I think, sir, I can find a
purchaser for Dreadnought, if you have no objection to selling him;
he's a gentleman, sir, who would take great care of him and give him a
good home."
"Sell him!" said I. "Well, I should not object if he found a good
master. I cannot ride him, and he is practically useless. What price
does he seem inclined to offer?"
"Well, he ain't made any offer, sir; but he seems a good deal took
with him and to like the look of him. Perhaps, sir, he might come and
see you. I told him that I thought a matter o' _fifteen pun_ might buy
un. I dunnow whether I did right, sir, but I told un you would never
take a farden less. I stuck to that."
"No," said I, "certainly not, when the vet.'s bill was twelve pounds
ten--not a farthing less, James."
When the proposed purchaser came, he said, "It's a poor horse--a very
poor horse; he wants a lot of looking after, and I shouldn't think of
buying him except for the sake of seeing what I could do with him, for
I am not fond of lumber, Mr. Hawkins--I don't care for lumber."
It was straightforward, but I did not at the time see his depth of
feeling. He was evidently intending to buy him out of compassion, as
he had some knowledge of his ancestors.
Pages:
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81