hments at a price which would starve a master and his
apprentice to compete with, are hammered out in these English shops
on a single anvil. On comparing notes with this knight of the
hammer, I learned a fact I had not known before. His price for
horse-shoeing varied according to the size of the hoof, just as our
leather-shoemakers charge according to the foot. On taking leave of
him he intimated, in the most frank and natural way in the world,
that, in our exchange of information, the balance was in his favor,
and that I could not but think it fair to pay him the difference. I
looked at him first inquiringly and doubtingly, embarrassed with the
idea that I had not understood him, or that he was a journeyman and
not the master of the establishment. But he was as free and easy
and natural as possible. An American tobacco-chewer, of fifty
years' standing, would not have asked a cut from a neighbor's
"lady's twist," or "pig-tail" in more perfect good faith. That
good, round, English face would have blushed crimson if the man
suspected that I misunderstood him. Nay, more, he would quite
likely have thrown the pennies at my head if I had offered them to
him to buy bread or bacon with for himself and family. I had no
reason for a moment's doubt. It all meant _beer_, "only that and
nothing more;" a mere pour boire souvenir to celebrate our mutual
acquaintance. So I gave him a couple of pennies, just as I would
have given him a bite of tobacco if we had both been in that line.
I feared to give him more, lest he might think I meant bread and
bacon and thought him a beggar. But I ventured to tell him,
however, that I did not use that beverage myself, and hoped he would
wish me health in some better enjoyment.

I saw, for the first time, a number of Spanish cattle feeding in a
pasture. They were large, variously colored animals with the
widely-branching horns that distinguish them. A man must have a
long range of buildings to stable a score of creatures with such
horns, and for that reason they will only be kept as curiosities in
these northern latitudes. And they are curiosities of animal life,
heightened to a wonderment when placed side by side with the black
Galloways, or those British breeds of cattle which have no horns at
all. I should not wonder, however, if this large, cream-colored
stock from Spain should be introduced here to cross with the
Durhams, Devons, and Herefords.

When about half-way from Mans