moments in which such was the intense excitement of my mind, I could
have committed a dreadful crime to regain possession of him. We were on
the eve of embarking for Ostend the other night, when I saw you riding
on the Downs, and I came ashore at once to track you out, for I knew
him, though fully half a mile away. None of my comrades could guess what
detained me, nor understand why I asked each of them in turn to lend me
whatever money he could spare. It was in this way I made up the little
purse you see. It was thus provided that I dared to present myself
to-day before you."

"As he gave me this narrative, his manner grew more eager and excited,
and I could not help feeling that his mind, from the long-continued
pressure of one thought, had received a serious shock. It was exactly
one of those cases which physicians describe as leaving the intellect
unimpaired, while some one faculty is under the thraldom of a dominant
and all-pervading impression. I saw this more palpably, when, having
declined to accept more than his original offer of fifty pounds, I
replaced the remainder in his hand, he evinced scarcely any gratitude
for my liberality, so totally was he engrossed by the idea that the
horse was now his own, and that Fortune would no longer have any pretext
for using him so severely as before.

"'I don't know,--I cannot know,' said he, 'if fortune means to deal more
kindly by me than heretofore, but I feel a sort of confidence in the
future now; I have a kind of trustful courage as to what may come, that
tells me no disaster will deter me, no mishap cast me down.'

"These were his words as he arose to take his leave. Of his meeting with
the pony I am afraid to trust myself to speak. It was such an overflow
of affection as one might witness from a long absent brother on being
once again restored to his own. I cannot say that the beast knew him,
nor would I go so far as to assert that he did not, for certainly some
of his old instincts seemed gradually to revive within him on hearing
certain words; and when ordered to take a respectful farewell of me, the
pony planted a foreleg on each of his master's shoulders, and,
taking off his hat with his teeth, bowed twice or thrice in the most
deferential fashion. I wished them both every success in life, and we
parted. As I took my evening's stroll on the pier, I saw them embark for
Ostend, the pony sheeted most carefully, and every imaginable precaution
taken to insure hi