{"product_id":"2940015493290","title":"The Talking Horse \u0026 Other Stories","description":"CONTENTS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                                 PAGE\u003cbr\u003eTHE TALKING HORSE                   1\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE GOOD LITTLE GIRL               39\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA MATTER OF TASTE                  72\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDON; THE STORY OF A GREEDY DOG    127\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTAKEN BY SURPRISE                 151\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePALEFACE AND REDSKIN              176\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSHUT OUT                          234\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTOMMY'S HERO                      250\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA CANINE ISHMAEL                  274\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMARJORY                           286\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e_THE TALKING HORSE_\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was on the way to Sandown Park that I met him first, on that horribly\u003cbr\u003ewet July afternoon when Bendigo won the Eclipse Stakes. He sat opposite\u003cbr\u003eto me in the train going down, and my attention was first attracted to\u003cbr\u003ehim by the marked contrast between his appearance and his attire: he had\u003cbr\u003enot thought fit to adopt the regulation costume for such occasions, and\u003cbr\u003eI think I never saw a man who had made himself more aggressively horsey.\u003cbr\u003eThe mark of the beast was sprinkled over his linen: he wore snaffle\u003cbr\u003esleeve-links, a hard hunting-hat, a Newmarket coat, and extremely tight\u003cbr\u003etrousers. And with all this, he fell as far short of the genuine\u003cbr\u003esportsman as any stage super who ever wore his spurs upside down in a\u003cbr\u003ehunting-chorus. His expression was mild and inoffensive, and his watery\u003cbr\u003epale eyes and receding chin gave one the idea that he was hardly to be\u003cbr\u003etrusted astride anything more spirited than a gold-headed cane. And yet,\u003cbr\u003esomehow, he aroused compassion rather than any sense of the ludicrous:\u003cbr\u003ehe had that look of shrinking self-effacement which comes of a recent\u003cbr\u003ehumiliation, and, in spite of all extravagances, he was obviously a\u003cbr\u003egentleman; while something in his manner indicated that his natural\u003cbr\u003etendency would, once at all events, have been to avoid any kind of\u003cbr\u003eextremes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe puzzled and interested me so much that I did my best to enter into\u003cbr\u003econversation with him, only to be baffled by the jerky embarrassment\u003cbr\u003ewith which he met all advances, and when we got out at Esher, curiosity\u003cbr\u003eled me to keep him still in view.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEvidently he had not come with any intention of making money. He avoided\u003cbr\u003ethe grand stand, with the bookmakers huddling in couples, like hoarse\u003cbr\u003elovebirds; he kept away from the members' inclosure, where the Guards'\u003cbr\u003eband was endeavouring to defy the elements which emptied their vials\u003cbr\u003einto the brazen instruments; he drifted listlessly about the course till\u003cbr\u003ethe clearing-bell rang, and it seemed as if he was searching for some\u003cbr\u003eone whom he only wished to discover in order to avoid.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSandown, it must be admitted, was not as gay as usual that day, with its\u003cbr\u003e'deluged park' and 'unsummer'd sky,' its waterproofed toilettes and\u003cbr\u003emassed umbrellas, whose sides gleamed livid as they caught the\u003cbr\u003elight--but there was a general determination to ignore the unseasonable\u003cbr\u003edampness as far as possible, and an excitement over the main event of\u003cbr\u003ethe day which no downpour could quench.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Ten Thousand was run: ladies with marvellously confected bonnets\u003cbr\u003elowered their umbrellas without a murmur, and smart men on drags shook\u003cbr\u003ehands effusively as, amidst a frantic roar of delight, Bendigo strode\u003cbr\u003epast the post. The moment after, I looked round for my incongruous\u003cbr\u003estranger, and saw him engaged in a well-meant attempt to press a currant\u003cbr\u003ebun upon a carriage-horse tethered to one of the trees--a feat of\u003cbr\u003eabstraction which, at such a time, was only surpassed by that of\u003cbr\u003eArchimedes at the sack of Syracuse.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter that I could no longer control my curiosity--I felt I must speak\u003cbr\u003eto him again, and I made an opportunity later, as we stood alone on a\u003cbr\u003estand which commanded the finish of one of the shorter courses, by\u003cbr\u003esuggesting that he should share my umbrella.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBefore accepting he glanced suspiciously at me through the rills that\u003cbr\u003estreamed from his unprotected hat-brim. 'I'm afraid,' I said, 'it is\u003cbr\u003erather like shutting the stable-door after the steed is stolen.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe started. 'He _was_ stolen, then,' he cried; 'so you have heard?'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI explained that I had only used an old proverb which I thought might\u003cbr\u003eappeal to him, and he sighed heavily.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'I was misled for the moment,' he said: 'you have guessed, then, that I\u003cbr\u003ehave been accustomed to horses?'","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47080709226736,"sku":"2940015493290","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940015493290","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}