Black Beauty

by Anna Sewell

  I often noticed the great speed at which butchers' horses were made togo, though I did not know why it was so till one day when we had to waitsome time in St. John's Wood. There was a butcher's shop next door, andas we were standing a butcher's cart came dashing up at a great pace.The horse was hot and much exhausted; he hung his head down, while hisheaving sides and trembling legs showed how hard he had been driven. Thelad jumped out of the cart and was getting the basket when the mastercame out of the shop much displeased. After looking at the horse heturned angrily to the lad.

  "How many times shall I tell you not to drive in this way? You ruinedthe last horse and broke his wind, and you are going to ruin this in thesame way. If you were not my own son I would dismiss you on the spot;it is a disgrace to have a horse brought to the shop in a condition likethat; you are liable to be taken up by the police for such driving, andif you are you need not look to me for bail, for I have spoken to youtill I'm tired; you must look out for yourself."

  During this speech the boy had stood by, sullen and dogged, but when hisfather ceased he broke out angrily. It wasn't his fault, and he wouldn'ttake the blame; he was only going by orders all the time.

  "You always say, 'Now be quick; now look sharp!' and when I go to thehouses one wants a leg of mutton for an early dinner and I must be backwith it in a quarter of an hour; another cook has forgotten to orderthe beef; I must go and fetch it and be back in no time, or themistress will scold; and the housekeeper says they have company comingunexpectedly and must have some chops sent up directly; and the lady atNo. 4, in the Crescent, never orders her dinner till the meat comesin for lunch, and it's nothing but hurry, hurry, all the time. If thegentry would think of what they want, and order their meat the daybefore, there need not be this blow up!"

  "I wish to goodness they would," said the butcher; "'twould save me awonderful deal of harass, and I could suit my customers much better ifI knew beforehand--But there! what's the use of talking--who ever thinksof a butcher's convenience or a butcher's horse! Now, then, take himin and look to him well; mind, he does not go out again to-day, and ifanything else is wanted you must carry it yourself in the basket." Withthat he went in, and the horse was led away.

  But all boys are not cruel. I have seen some as fond of their pony ordonkey as if it had been a favorite dog, and the little creatures haveworked away as cheerfully and willingly for their young drivers as Iwork for Jerry. It may be hard work sometimes, but a friend's hand andvoice make it easy.

  There was a young coster-boy who came up our street with greens andpotatoes; he had an old pony, not very handsome, but the cheerfullestand pluckiest little thing I ever saw, and to see how fond those twowere of each other was a treat. The pony followed his master like a dog,and when he got into his cart would trot off without a whip or a word,and rattle down the street as merrily as if he had come out of thequeen's stables. Jerry liked the boy, and called him "Prince Charlie",for he said he would make a king of drivers some day.

  There was an old man, too, who used to come up our street with a littlecoal cart; he wore a coal-heaver's hat, and looked rough and black. Heand his old horse used to plod together along the street, like two goodpartners who understood each other; the horse would stop of his ownaccord at the doors where they took coal of him; he used to keep one earbent toward his master. The old man's cry could be heard up the streetlong before he came near. I never knew what he said, but the childrencalled him "Old Ba-a-ar Hoo", for it sounded like that. Polly took hercoal of him, and was very friendly, and Jerry said it was a comfort tothink how happy an old horse might be in a poor place.

  42 The Election

  As we came into the yard one afternoon Polly came out. "Jerry! I've hadMr. B---- here asking about your vote, and he wants to hire your cab forthe election; he will call for an answer."

  "Well, Polly, you may say that my cab will be otherwise engaged. Ishould not like to have it pasted over with their great bills, and asto making Jack and Captain race about to the public-houses to bring uphalf-drunken voters, why, I think 'twould be an insult to the horses.No, I shan't do it."

  "I suppose you'll vote for the gentleman? He said he was of yourpolitics."

  "So he is in some things, but I shall not vote for him, Polly; you knowwhat his trade is?"

  "Yes."

  "Well, a man who gets rich by that trade may be all very well in someways, but he is blind as to what workingmen want; I could not in myconscience send him up to make the laws. I dare say they'll be angry,but every man must do what he thinks to be the best for his country."

  On the morning before the election, Jerry was putting me into theshafts, when Dolly came into the yard sobbing and crying, with herlittle blue frock and white pinafore spattered all over with mud.

  "Why, Dolly, what is the matter?"

  "Those naughty boys," she sobbed, "have thrown the dirt all over me, andcalled me a little raga--raga--"

  "They called her a little 'blue' ragamuffin, father," said Harry, whoran in looking very angry; "but I have given it to them; they won'tinsult my sister again. I have given them a thrashing they willremember; a set of cowardly, rascally 'orange' blackguards."

  Jerry kissed the child and said, "Run in to mother, my pet, and tell herI think you had better stay at home to-day and help her."

  Then turning gravely to Harry:

  "My boy, I hope you will always defend your sister, and give anybody whoinsults her a good thrashing--that is as it should be; but mind, I won'thave any election blackguarding on my premises. There are as many'blue' blackguards as there are 'orange', and as many white as there arepurple, or any other color, and I won't have any of my family mixed upwith it. Even women and children are ready to quarrel for the sake of acolor, and not one in ten of them knows what it is about."

  "Why, father, I thought blue was for Liberty."

  "My boy, Liberty does not come from colors, they only show party, andall the liberty you can get out of them is, liberty to get drunk atother people's expense, liberty to ride to the poll in a dirty old cab,liberty to abuse any one that does not wear your color, and to shoutyourself hoarse at what you only half-understand--that's your liberty!"

  "Oh, father, you are laughing."

  "No, Harry, I am serious, and I am ashamed to see how men go on whoought to know better. An election is a very serious thing; at least itought to be, and every man ought to vote according to his conscience,and let his neighbor do the same."

  43 A Friend in Need

  The election day came at last; there was no lack of work for Jerry andme. First came a stout puffy gentleman with a carpet bag; he wanted togo to the Bishopsgate station; then we were called by a party who wishedto be taken to the Regent's Park; and next we were wanted in a sidestreet where a timid, anxious old lady was waiting to be taken to thebank; there we had to stop to take her back again, and just as we hadset her down a red-faced gentleman, with a handful of papers, camerunning up out of breath, and before Jerry could get down he had openedthe door, popped himself in, and called out, "Bow Street Police Station,quick!" so off we went with him, and when after another turn or twowe came back, there was no other cab on the stand. Jerry put on mynose-bag, for as he said, "We must eat when we can on such days asthese; so munch away, Jack, and make the best of your time, old boy."

  I found I had a good feed of crushed oats wetted up with a little bran;this would be a treat any day, but very refreshing then. Jerry was sothoughtful and kind--what horse would not do his best for such a master?Then he took out one of Polly's meat pies, and standing near me, hebegan to eat it. The streets were very full, and the cabs, with thecandidates' colors on them, were dashing about through the crowd as iflife and limb were of no consequence; we saw two people knocked downthat day, and one was a woman. The horses were having a bad time of it,poor things! but the voters inside thought nothing of that; many of themwere half-drunk, hurrahing out of the cab windows if their own partycame by. It was the first election I had seen, and I don't want to be inanother, though I
have heard things are better now.

  Jerry and I had not eaten many mouthfuls before a poor young woman,carrying a heavy child, came along the street. She was looking this wayand that way, and seemed quite bewildered. Presently she made her way upto Jerry and asked if he could tell her the way to St. Thomas' Hospital,and how far it was to get there. She had come from the country thatmorning, she said, in a market cart; she did not know about theelection, and was quite a stranger in London. She had got an order forthe hospital for her little boy. The child was crying with a feeble,pining cry.

  "Poor little fellow!" she said, "he suffers a deal of pain; he is fouryears old and can't walk any more than a baby; but the doctor said if Icould get him into the hospital he might get well; pray, sir, how far isit; and which way is it?"

  "Why, missis," said Jerry, "you can't get there walking through crowdslike this! why, it is three miles away, and that child is heavy."

  "Yes, bless him, he is; but I am strong, thank God, and if I knew theway I think I should get on somehow; please tell me the way."

  "You can't do it," said Jerry, "you might be knocked down and the childbe run over. Now look here, just get into this cab, and I'll drive yousafe to the hospital. Don't you see the rain is coming on?"

  "No, sir, no; I can't do that, thank you, I have only just money enoughto get back with. Please tell me the way."

  "Look you here, missis," said Jerry, "I've got a wife and dear childrenat home, and I know a father's feelings; now get you into that cab, andI'll take you there for nothing. I'd be ashamed of myself to let a womanand a sick child run a risk like that."

  "Heaven bless you!" said the woman, and burst into tears.

  "There, there, cheer up, my dear, I'll soon take you there; come, let meput you inside."

  As Jerry went to open the door two men, with colors in their hats andbuttonholes, ran up calling out, "Cab!"

  "Engaged," cried Jerry; but one of the men, pushing past the woman,sprang into the cab, followed by the other. Jerry looked as stern as apoliceman. "This cab is already engaged, gentlemen, by that lady."

  "Lady!" said one of them; "oh! she can wait; our business is veryimportant, besides we were in first, it is our right, and we shall stayin."

  A droll smile came over Jerry's face as he shut the door upon them. "Allright, gentlemen, pray stay in as long as it suits you; I can wait whileyou rest yourselves." And turning his back upon them he walked up to theyoung woman, who was standing near me. "They'll soon be gone," he said,laughing; "don't trouble yourself, my dear."

  And they soon were gone, for when they understood Jerry's dodge they gotout, calling him all sorts of bad names and blustering about his numberand getting a summons. After this little stoppage we were soon on ourway to the hospital, going as much as possible through by-streets. Jerryrung the great bell and helped the young woman out.

  "Thank you a thousand times," she said; "I could never have got herealone."

  "You're kindly welcome, and I hope the dear child will soon be better."

  He watched her go in at the door, and gently he said to himself,"Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these." Then hepatted my neck, which was always his way when anything pleased him.

  The rain was now coming down fast, and just as we were leaving thehospital the door opened again, and the porter called out, "Cab!" Westopped, and a lady came down the steps. Jerry seemed to know her atonce; she put back her veil and said, "Barker! Jeremiah Barker, is ityou? I am very glad to find you here; you are just the friend I want,for it is very difficult to get a cab in this part of London to-day."

  "I shall be proud to serve you, ma'am; I am right glad I happened to behere. Where may I take you to, ma'am?"

  "To the Paddington Station, and then if we are in good time, as I thinkwe shall be, you shall tell me all about Mary and the children."

  We got to the station in good time, and being under shelter the ladystood a good while talking to Jerry. I found she had been Polly'smistress, and after many inquiries about her she said:

  "How do you find the cab work suit you in winter? I know Mary was ratheranxious about you last year."

  "Yes, ma'am, she was; I had a bad cough that followed me up quite intothe warm weather, and when I am kept out late she does worry herself agood deal. You see, ma'am, it is all hours and all weathers, and thatdoes try a man's constitution; but I am getting on pretty well, and Ishould feel quite lost if I had not horses to look after. I was broughtup to it, and I am afraid I should not do so well at anything else."

  "Well, Barker," she said, "it would be a great pity that you shouldseriously risk your health in this work, not only for your own but forMary's and the children's sake; there are many places where good driversor good grooms are wanted, and if ever you think you ought to give upthis cab work let me know."

  Then sending some kind messages to Mary she put something into his hand,saying, "There is five shillings each for the two children; Mary willknow how to spend it."

  Jerry thanked her and seemed much pleased, and turning out of thestation we at last reached home, and I, at least, was tired.

  44 Old Captain and His Successor

  Captain and I were great friends. He was a noble old fellow, and he wasvery good company. I never thought that he would have to leave his homeand go down the hill; but his turn came, and this was how it happened. Iwas not there, but I heard all about it.

  He and Jerry had taken a party to the great railway station over LondonBridge, and were coming back, somewhere between the bridge and themonument, when Jerry saw a brewer's empty dray coming along, drawn bytwo powerful horses. The drayman was lashing his horses with his heavywhip; the dray was light, and they started off at a furious rate; theman had no control over them, and the street was full of traffic.

  One young girl was knocked down and run over, and the next moment theydashed up against our cab; both the wheels were torn off and the cab wasthrown over. Captain was dragged down, the shafts splintered, and oneof them ran into his side. Jerry, too, was thrown, but was only bruised;nobody could tell how he escaped; he always said 'twas a miracle. Whenpoor Captain was got up he was found to be very much cut and knockedabout. Jerry led him home gently, and a sad sight it was to see theblood soaking into his white coat and dropping from his side andshoulder. The drayman was proved to be very drunk, and was fined, andthe brewer had to pay damages to our master; but there was no one to paydamages to poor Captain.

  The farrier and Jerry did the best they could to ease his pain and makehim comfortable. The fly had to be mended, and for several days I didnot go out, and Jerry earned nothing. The first time we went to thestand after the accident the governor came up to hear how Captain was.

  "He'll never get over it," said Jerry, "at least not for my work, so thefarrier said this morning. He says he may do for carting, and that sortof work. It has put me out very much. Carting, indeed! I've seen whathorses come to at that work round London. I only wish all the drunkardscould be put in a lunatic asylum instead of being allowed to run foul ofsober people. If they would break their own bones, and smash their owncarts, and lame their own horses, that would be their own affair, andwe might let them alone, but it seems to me that the innocentalways suffer; and then they talk about compensation! You can't makecompensation; there's all the trouble, and vexation, and loss of time,besides losing a good horse that's like an old friend--it's nonsensetalking of compensation! If there's one devil that I should like to seein the bottomless pit more than another, it's the drink devil."

  "I say, Jerry," said the governor, "you are treading pretty hard on mytoes, you know; I'm not so good as you are, more shame to me; I wish Iwas."

  "Well," said Jerry, "why don't you cut with it, governor? You are toogood a man to be the slave of such a thing."

  "I'm a great fool, Jerry, but I tried once for two days, and I thought Ishould have died; how did you do?"

  "I had hard work at it for several weeks; you see I never did get drunk,but I found that I was not my own maste
r, and that when the craving cameon it was hard work to say 'no'. I saw that one of us must knock under,the drink devil or Jerry Barker, and I said that it should not be JerryBarker, God helping me; but it was a struggle, and I wanted all thehelp I could get, for till I tried to break the habit I did not know howstrong it was; but then Polly took such pains that I should have goodfood, and when the craving came on I used to get a cup of coffee, orsome peppermint, or read a bit in my book, and that was a help to me;sometimes I had to say over and over to myself, 'Give up the drink orlose your soul! Give up the drink or break Polly's heart!' But thanks beto God, and my dear wife, my chains were broken, and now for ten years Ihave not tasted a drop, and never wish for it."

  "I've a great mind to try at it," said Grant, "for 'tis a poor thing notto be one's own master."

  "Do, governor, do, you'll never repent it, and what a help it would beto some of the poor fellows in our rank if they saw you do without it. Iknow there's two or three would like to keep out of that tavern if theycould."

  At first Captain seemed to do well, but he was a very old horse, and itwas only his wonderful constitution, and Jerry's care, that had kepthim up at the cab work so long; now he broke down very much. The farriersaid he might mend up enough to sell for a few pounds, but Jerry said,no! a few pounds got by selling a good old servant into hard workand misery would canker all the rest of his money, and he thought thekindest thing he could do for the fine old fellow would be to put a surebullet through his head, and then he would never suffer more; for he didnot know where to find a kind master for the rest of his days.