"And that is really Beau Brummel!" she cried, with sparkling eyes, pointing
to a splendid deep-chested animal, who was regarding them with mild
curiosity. "And that is Queen of Sheba next to him! What lovely heads they
have, and how very proud you must be to own them!" One would have thought
her days and nights had been given to a study of these two thoroughbreds.
"They are the best long-distance horses in the country," said the Colonel,
flushing with pleasure. And then, in reply to her eager questioning, he
gave their pedigrees and performances, all their battles and victories, in
detail--a list as long and glorious as the triumphs of Napoleon, and
perhaps as useful. At each stall she had fresh questions to ask. Her
brothers, with an eye to the coming meeting, listened eagerly to the
Colonel's answers, while the Major and the General, lagging behind,
discussed affairs of state. At last the horses were all seen; everybody
shook hands with the Colonel and thanked him, the General with great
pompousness, and Miss Braxton with a smile, and a hope that she might see
him during the meeting; and the old barouche went lumbering away down the
road, until it presently buried itself, like a monstrous cuttlefish, in a
cloud of its own making.
Pages:
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221