He's ill in bed," said the man; "he was taken last night in the yard,
and could scarcely crawl home. His wife sent a boy this morning to
say his father was in a high fever and could not get out, so I'm here
instead."

The next morning the same man came again.

"How is Sam?" inquired the governor.

"He's gone," said the man.

"What, gone? You don't mean to say he's dead?"

"Just snuffed out," said the other; "he died at four o'clock this
morning; all yesterday he was raving--raving about Skinner, and having
no Sundays. 'I never had a Sunday's rest,' these were his last words."

No one spoke for a while, and then the governor said, "I'll tell you
what, mates, this is a warning for us."

40 Poor Ginger

One day, while our cab and many others were waiting outside one of the
parks where music was playing, a shabby old cab drove up beside ours.
The horse was an old worn-out chestnut, with an ill-kept coat, and
bones that showed plainly through it, the knees knuckled over, and the
fore-legs were very unsteady. I had been eating some hay, and the wind
rolled a little lock of it that way, and the poor creature put out her
long thin neck and picked it up, and then turned and looked about for
more. There was a hopeless look in the dull eye that I could not help
noticing, and then, as I was thinking where I had seen that horse
before, she looked full at me and said, "Black Beauty, is that you?"

It was Ginger! but how changed! The beautifully arched and glossy neck
was now straight, and lank, and fallen in; the clean straight legs and
delicate fetlocks were swelled; the joints were grown out of shape with
hard work; the face, that was once so full of spirit and life, was now
full of suffering, and I could tell by the heaving of her sides, and her
frequent cough, how bad her breath was.

Our drivers were standing together a little way off, so I sidled up to
her a step or two, that we might have a little quiet talk. It was a sad
tale that she had to tell.

After a twelvemonth's run off at Earlshall, she was considered to be fit
for work again, and was sold to a gentleman. For a little while she
got on very well, but after a longer gallop than usual the old strain
returned, and after being rested and doctored she was again sold. In
this way she changed hands several times, but always getting lower down.

"And so at last," said she, "I was bought by a man who keeps a number of
cabs and horses, and lets them out. Y