ociety belonged to the
horse. The parties which went to church on Sunday morning talked about
horses on the way, and the crowds that gathered in front of the church
door to watch them descend from their automobiles, and to get "points"
on their conspicuous costumes--these would read about horses all
afternoon in the Sunday papers, and about the gowns which the women
would wear at the show.

Some of the party went up on Sunday evening; Montague went with the
rest on Monday morning, and had lunch with Mrs. Robbie Walling and
Oliver and Alice. They had arrayed him in a frock coat and silk hat and
fancy "spats"; and they took him and sat him in the front row of
Robbie's box.

There was a great tan-bark arena, in which the horses performed; and
then a railing, and a broad promenade for the spectators; and then,
raised a few feet above, the boxes in which sat all Society. For the
Horse Show had now become a great social function. Last year a visiting
foreign prince had seen fit to attend it, and this year "everybody"
would come.

Montague was rapidly getting used to things; he observed with a smile
how easy it was to take for granted embroidered bed and table linen,
and mural paintings, and private cars, and gold plate. At first it had
seemed to him strange to be waited upon by a white woman, and by a
white man quite unthinkable; but he was becoming accustomed to having
silent and expressionless lackeys everywhere about him, attending to
his slightest want. So he presumed that if he waited long enough, he
might even get used to horses which had their tails cut off to stumps,
and their manes to rows of bristles, and which had been taught to lift
their feet in strange and eccentric ways, and were driven with burred
bits in their mouths to torture them and make them step lively.

There were road-horses, coach-horses, saddle-horses and hunters,
polo-ponies, stud-horses--every kind of horse that is used for
pleasure, over a hundred different "classes" of them. They were put
through their paces about the ring, and there was a committee which
judged them, and awarded blue and red ribbons. Apparently their highly
artificial kind of excellence was a real thing to the people who took
part in the show; for the spectators thrilled with excitement, and
applauded the popular victors. There was a whole set of conventions
which were generally understood--there was even a new language. You
were told that these "turnouts" were "nobby" and