第66章 Hard Times(2)

"I am sure we are wrong, I am sure it is very cruel.""Nonsense, Grace, get in at once, and don't make all this fuss;a pretty thing it would be if a man of business had to examine every cab-horse before he hired it -- the man knows his own business of course; there, get in and hold your tongue!"My gentle friend had to obey, and box after box was dragged up and lodged on the top of the cab or settled by the side of the driver.

At last all was ready, and with his usual jerk at the rein and slash of the whip he drove out of the station.

The load was very heavy and I had had neither food nor rest since morning;but I did my best, as I always had done, in spite of cruelty and injustice.

I got along fairly till we came to Ludgate Hill; but there the heavy load and my own exhaustion were too much. I was struggling to keep on, goaded by constant chucks of the rein and use of the whip, when in a single moment -- I cannot tell how -- my feet slipped from under me, and I fell heavily to the ground on my side;the suddenness and the force with which I fell seemed to beat all the breath out of my body. I lay perfectly still; indeed, I had no power to move, and I thought now I was going to die. I heard a sort of confusion round me, loud, angry voices, and the getting down of the luggage, but it was all like a dream. I thought I heard that sweet, pitiful voice saying, "Oh! that poor horse! it is all our fault." Some one came and loosened the throat strap of my bridle, and undid the traces which kept the collar so tight upon me. Some one said, "He's dead, he'll never get up again."Then I could hear a policeman giving orders, but I did not even open my eyes;I could only draw a gasping breath now and then. Some cold water was thrown over my head, and some cordial was poured into my mouth, and something was covered over me. I cannot tell how long I lay there, but I found my life coming back, and a kind-voiced man was patting me and encouraging me to rise. After some more cordial had been given me, and after one or two attempts, I staggered to my feet, and was gently led to some stables which were close by.

Here I was put into a well-littered stall, and some warm gruel was brought to me, which I drank thankfully.

In the evening I was sufficiently recovered to be led back to Skinner's stables, where I think they did the best for me they could.

In the morning Skinner came with a farrier to look at me.

He examined me very closely and said:

"This is a case of overwork more than disease, and if you could give him a run off for six months he would be able to work again;but now there is not an ounce of strength left in him.""Then he must just go to the dogs," said Skinner. "I have no meadows to nurse sick horses in -- he might get well or he might not;that sort of thing don't suit my business; my plan is to work 'em as long as they'll go, and then sell 'em for what they'll fetch, at the knacker's or elsewhere.""If he was broken-winded," said the farrier, "you had better have him killed out of hand, but he is not; there is a sale of horses coming off in about ten days; if you rest him and feed him up he may pick up, and you may get more than his skin is worth, at any rate."Upon this advice Skinner, rather unwillingly, I think, gave orders that I should be well fed and cared for, and the stable man, happily for me, carried out the orders with a much better will than his master had in giving them. Ten days of perfect rest, plenty of good oats, hay, bran mashes, with boiled linseed mixed in them, did more to get up my condition than anything else could have done;those linseed mashes were delicious, and I began to think, after all, it might be better to live than go to the dogs. When the twelfth day after the accident came, I was taken to the sale, a few miles out of London.

I felt that any change from my present place must be an improvement, so I held up my head, and hoped for the best.