at us and
applaud when we nod our heads at them. We live always in the purlieus of
palaces, and never have we known what it is to throw up our heels in a
green pasture, nor in our old age are we turned out comfortably to
grass--only to Nebuchadnezzar by accident came that thing, and he did
not appreciate it as he should have done. Never shall we go into battle
to prove that we are worth our salt, and to say 'Ha, Ha' to the fighting
and the captains; nor is it allowed to us to devour the ground with our
speed: whenever we attempt such a thing it is cut from under us. Little
brothers, it is before all things necessary that we should behave; for
being once harnessed to the royal coach, if any one of us struck work or
threw out our heels we should upset many apple-carts and the machinery
of the State would be dislocated. Let us thank God, therefore, that long
habit and training have made us docile, and that our backs are strong
enough to bear the load that is put upon them, and that if one of us
goes another immediately fills his place so that he is not missed."

In a vague, unformulated way this was the homily which arose from his
meditations; and if he thought at all specially of himself and present
circumstances, it was merely as an insignificant exception which proved
the general rule.

As he strolled back again he stopped at the door and spoke to the man in
charge.

"They all seem very fit, Jacobs," said he. "They do you credit, I must
say."

"Fit they are, your Majesty!" said the man, beaming with satisfied
pride; "and so they ought to be, considering the trouble we've took with
'em. We've been polishing them like old pewter for days. Ah! they know
what's coming; and you can see 'em just longing for it."

"Oh, they like it, do they?"

"Believe me, your Majesty, they couldn't live without it. It's in the
blood--been in 'em from father to son. Why, if we didn't take 'em out to
help us open and shut Parliament and things of that sort, they'd think
we was mad."

This was a new point of view; the King listened to it with respectful
interest, and then a fresh thought occurred to him.

"Jacobs," he said, "did one of them ever refuse to go?--on a public
occasion, I mean."

"Well, yes, your Majesty, it did once happen; before my time, though.
One of 'em--ah, it was at a funeral, too--he stuck his heels into the
ground and couldn't be got to start, not for love or money."

"Which did they offer him?"

"Ask pardon