quest
to see Mrs Sydney. She instantly, conceiving I was thrown, if not
killed, rushed down to the man, exclaiming, 'Where is he?--where is
your master?--is he hurt?' The astonished and quaking snip stood silent
from surprise. Still more agitated by his silence, she exclaimed, 'Is he
hurt? I insist upon knowing the worst!'--'Why, please, ma'am, it is only
thy little bill, a very small account, I wanted thee to settle,' replied
he, in much surprise.

"After this, you may suppose, I sold my horse; however, it is some
comfort to know that my friend, Sir George, is one fall ahead of me, and
is certainly a worse rider. It is a great proof, too, of the liberality
of this county, where everybody can ride as soon as they are born, that
they tolerate me at all.

"The horse 'Calamity,' whose name has been thus introduced, was the
first-born of several young horses bred on the farm, who turned out very
fine creatures, and gained him great glory, even amongst the knowing
farmers of Yorkshire; but this first production was certainly not
encouraging. To his dismay a huge, lank, large-boned foal appeared, of
chestnut colour, and with four white legs. It grew apace, but its bones
became more and more conspicuous; its appetite was unbounded--grass,
hay, corn, beans, food moist and dry, were all supplied in vain, and
vanished down his throat with incredible rapidity. He stood, a large
living skeleton, with famine written in his face, and my father
christened him 'Calamity.' As Calamity grew to maturity, he was found to
be as sluggish in disposition as his master was impetuous; so my father
was driven to invent his patent Tantalus, which consisted of a small
sieve of corn, suspended on a semicircular bar of iron, from the ends of
the shafts, just beyond the horse's nose. The corn, rattling as the
vehicle proceeded, stimulated Calamity to unwonted exertions; and under
the hope of overtaking this imaginary feed, he did more work than all
the previous provender which had been poured down his throat had been
able to obtain from him."

He was very fond of his young horses, and they all came running to meet
him when he entered the field. He began their education from their
birth; he taught them to wear a girth, a bridle, a saddle; to meet
flags, music; to bear the firing of a pistol at their heads from their
earliest years; and he maintained that no horses were so well broken as
his! At p. 388 she records, "At ten we always went down-stairs