employee like you--I'll have to be more
careful,' he says--'n' I'm workin' fur Mr. Brown.

"About a week after this, I'm bringin' a hackney up to the showroom fur
Brown to look at, when a young chap dressed like a shoffer stops me.

"'I wish to see Mr. Brown, my man,' he says. 'Can you tell me where he
is?'

"No shofe can spring this 'my man' stuff on _me_, 'n' get away with it.
But a blind kitten can see this guy's all the gravy. There's somethin'
about him makes you think the best ain't near as good as he wants. I
tells him to come along with me, 'n' when we gets up to the showroom he
sticks a card at Brown.

"'Yes, indeed--Mr. Van Voast!' says Brown, when he squints at the card.
'You're almost the only member of your family I have been unable to
serve. I believe I have read that you are devoted to the motor game.'

"'That's an indiscretion I hope to rectify--I want a hunter,' says the
young chap.

"'Take that horse down and bring up Sally Waters,' says Brown to me.

"This Sally Waters is a chestnut mare that's kep' in a big stall where
she gets the best light 'n' air in the buildin'. A lot of guys have
looked at her, but the price is so fierce nobody takes her.

"'Is that the best you have?' says the young chap, when I gets back with
her.

"'Yes, Mr. Van Voast,' says Brown. 'And she's as good as ever stood on
four legs! She'll carry your weight nicely, too.'

"'Is she fast?' says the young chap.

"'After racing at ninety miles an hour, anything in horse-flesh would
seem slow to you, I presume,' says Brown. 'But she is an extremely fast
hunter, and very thorough at a fence.'

"'Do you know Ferguson's Macbeth?' says the young chap.

"'I ought to,' says Brown. 'We imported Macbeth and Mr. Ferguson bought
him from me.'

"The young chap studies a minute.

"'I might as well tell you that I want a hunter to beat Macbeth for the
Melford Cup,' he says at last.

"'Oh, oh!' says Brown. 'That's too large an order, Mr. Van Voast--I
can't fill it.'

"'You don't think this mare can beat Macbeth?' says the young chap.

"'No, sir, I do not,' says Brown. 'Nor any other hunter I ever saw.
There might be something in England that would be up to it, but I don't
know what it would be--and money wouldn't buy it if I knew.'

"The young chap won't look at the mare no more, 'n' Brown tells me to put
her up. I hustles her back to the stall, 'n' goes down to the street
door 'n' waits. There's a big gray au