lengthen. In the course of the day,
horses and boys have much to do. About half after eight, perhaps, in the
evening, the horse has his last feed of oats, which he generally stands
to enjoy in the centre of his smooth, carefully made bed of clean long
straw, and by the side of him the weary boy will often lie down; it
being held as a maxim, a rule without exception, that were he to lie
even till morning, the horse would never lie down himself, but stand
still, careful to do his keeper no harm.[225]

In one of Thomas Holcroft's novels, "Alwyn; or, The Gentleman Comedian,"
founded on his own adventures when a travelling actor, he gives the
character of an enthusiast who had conceived the idea of establishing a
humane asylum for animals, the consequences of which he describes. "I am
pestered, plagued, teased, tormented to death. I believe all the cats
in Christendom are assembled in Oxfordshire. I am obliged to hire a
clerk to pay the people; and the village where I live is become a
constant fair. A fellow has set up the sign of the Three Blind Kittens,
and has the impudence to tell the neighbours, that if my whims and my
money only hold out for one twelvemonth, he shall not care a fig for the
king. I thought to prevent this inundation, by buying up all the old
cats and secluding them in convents and monasteries of my own, but the
value of the breeders is increased to such a degree, that I do not
believe my whole fortune is capable of the purchase. Besides I am made
an ass of. A rascal, who is a known sharper in these parts, hearing of
the aversion I had to cruelty, bought an old one-eyed horse, that was
going to the dogs, for five shillings; then taking a hammer in his hand,
watched an opportunity of finding me alone, and addressed me in the
following manner: 'Look you, master, I know that you don't love to see
any dumb creature abused, and so, if you don't give me ten pounds, why,
I shall scoop out this old rip's odd eye with the sharp end of this here
hammer, now, before your face.' Ay, and the villain would have done it
too, if I had not instantly complied; but what was worse, the abominable
scoundrel had the audacity to tell me, when I wanted him to deliver the
horse first, for fear he should extort a further sum from me, that he
had more honour than to break his word. A whelp of a boy had yesterday
caught a young hedgehog, and perceiving me, threw it into the water to
make it extend its legs; then with the rough side