e, flung his lordship out, and so cut and blemished himself that
he was no longer fit for a gentleman's stables, and the coachman had
orders to look round, and sell him as well as he could.

"I can do with high spirits," said Jerry, "if a horse is not vicious or
hard-mouthed."

"There is not a bit of vice in him," said the man; "his mouth is very
tender, and I think myself that was the cause of the accident; you see
he had just been clipped, and the weather was bad, and he had not had
exercise enough, and when he did go out he was as full of spring as a
balloon. Our governor (the coachman, I mean) had him harnessed in as
tight and strong as he could, with the martingale, and the check-rein, a
very sharp curb, and the reins put in at the bottom bar. It is my belief
that it made the horse mad, being tender in the mouth and so full of
spirit."

"Likely enough; I'll come and see him," said Jerry.

The next day Hotspur, that was his name, came home; he was a fine brown
horse, without a white hair in him, as tall as Captain, with a very
handsome head, and only five years old. I gave him a friendly greeting
by way of good fellowship, but did not ask him any questions. The first
night he was very restless. Instead of lying down, he kept jerking his
halter rope up and down through the ring, and knocking the block about
against the manger till I could not sleep. However, the next day, after
five or six hours in the cab, he came in quiet and sensible. Jerry
patted and talked to him a good deal, and very soon they understood each
other, and Jerry said that with an easy bit and plenty of work he would
be as gentle as a lamb; and that it was an ill wind that blew nobody
good, for if his lordship had lost a hundred-guinea favorite, the cabman
had gained a good horse with all his strength in him.

Hotspur thought it a great come-down to be a cab-horse, and was
disgusted at standing in the rank, but he confessed to me at the end of
the week that an easy mouth and a free head made up for a great deal,
and after all, the work was not so degrading as having one's head and
tail fastened to each other at the saddle. In fact, he settled in well,
and Jerry liked him very much.

45 Jerry's New Year

For some people Christmas and the New Year are very merry times; but for
cabmen and cabmen's horses it is no holiday, though it may be a harvest.
There are so many parties, balls, and places of amusement open that the
work is hard an