Market Harborough, and Inside the BarWhyte-Melville, G. J. (George John)
General
Market Harborough, and Inside the Bar
Whyte-Melville, G. J. (George John)
Country life -- England -- Fiction; English fiction -- 19th century; Fox hunting -- Fiction
“Well, sir, in less than a fortnight, I happened to be in Waterborough
on market-day; and as I came out of the horse-market, I see a crowd of
foot-people running towards the High Street, and I hear a precious
stamping and scuffling, and clattering of horses’ feet just round the
corner where the milliner’s shop stands; so I walk on to see what the
disturbance is. A precious shindy I found too. There was a donkey-cart
drawed on to the pavement, and a hamper of greens upset on the
door-step, and a old apple-woman cursing awful, and the foot-people
flying into the middle of the street; and in the heart of them all,
there was the grey horse right up against the milliner’s front-door,
with his head going one way and his body another, and his tail tucked
down in his quarters as if he meant mischief enough for a week; and Mr.
Mohair (he’s a timid gentleman, Mr. Mohair), sitting on his back as
white as a sheet, pulling of him by the bridle, and kicking of him in
the ribs, afraid to quilt him as he should have done by rights; afraid
to stick to him handsome, and yet more afraid still to get off his back,
for there stood Mrs. Mohair in her best black satin gown, with a shawl
pulled over her head, a rowing of him tremendous, and all the pretty
girls in the milliner’s windows laughing fit to break their hearts.
Well, I caught hold, and led him back to his own stable for pity’s sake;
and Mr. Mohair behaved quite like a gentleman; but he sold him to run in
the ’bus, and never got on his back again.”
“Very awkward for all parties,” observed Miss Lushington, probably
following out a train of ideas of her own.
Tips stared at her for a considerable period, winked solemnly with his
damaged eye, and then subsided once more into his gin-and-water.
“Do you think these vicious horses, then,” said I, “the most dangerous
customers you have to deal with?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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