master knew
very little about horses, but he treated me well, and I should have had
a good and easy place but for circumstances of which he was ignorant. He
ordered the best hay with plenty of oats, crushed beans, and bran,
with vetches, or rye grass, as the man might think needful. I heard the
master give the order, so I knew there was plenty of good food, and I
thought I was well off.

For a few days all went on well. I found that my groom understood
his business. He kept the stable clean and airy, and he groomed me
thoroughly; and was never otherwise than gentle. He had been an hostler
in one of the great hotels in Bath. He had given that up, and now
cultivated fruit and vegetables for the market, and his wife bred and
fattened poultry and rabbits for sale. After awhile it seemed to me that
my oats came very short; I had the beans, but bran was mixed with them
instead of oats, of which there were very few; certainly not more than a
quarter of what there should have been. In two or three weeks this began
to tell upon my strength and spirits. The grass food, though very good,
was not the thing to keep up my condition without corn. However, I
could not complain, nor make known my wants. So it went on for about two
months; and I wondered that my master did not see that something was
the matter. However, one afternoon he rode out into the country to see a
friend of his, a gentleman farmer, who lived on the road to Wells.

This gentleman had a very quick eye for horses; and after he had
welcomed his friend he said, casting his eye over me:

"It seems to me, Barry, that your horse does not look so well as he did
when you first had him; has he been well?"

"Yes, I believe so," said my master; "but he is not nearly so lively as
he was; my groom tells me that horses are always dull and weak in the
autumn, and that I must expect it."

"Autumn, fiddlesticks!" said the farmer. "Why, this is only August; and
with your light work and good food he ought not to go down like this,
even if it was autumn. How do you feed him?"

My master told him. The other shook his head slowly, and began to feel
me over.

"I can't say who eats your corn, my dear fellow, but I am much mistaken
if your horse gets it. Have you ridden very fast?"

"No, very gently."

"Then just put your hand here," said he, passing his hand over my neck
and shoulder; "he is as warm and damp as a horse just come up from
grass. I advise you to look into your stab