"Beverley!" repeated the other; "had he possessed any spirit he
would have blown his brains out, like a gentleman; as it was, he
preferred merely to disappear," and herewith the speaker shrugged
his shoulders, and drank off his glass with infinite relish and
gusto.
"And a--pretty filly, you say?"
"Oh, I believe you! Country bred, but devilish well-blooded--trust
Beverley for that."
"Egad, yes--Beverley had a true eye for beauty or breed, poor
dey-vil!" This expression of pity seemed to afford each of them
much subtle enjoyment. "Harking back to this--filly," said the
big man, checking his merriment, "how if she jibs, and cuts up
rough, kicks over the traces--devilish awkward, eh?"
His companion raised his foot and rested it carelessly, upon the
settle near by, and upon the heel of his slim riding-boot I saw a
particularly cruel-looking, long-necked spur.
"My dear Mostyn," said he, his nostrils working, "for such an
emergency there is nothing like a pair of good sharp 'persuaders,'"
here he tapped the spur lightly with the slender gold-mounted cane
he carried; "and I rather fancy I know just how and when to use
'em, Mostyn." And once again I saw the gleam of his big, white
teeth.
All this I heard as they lolled within a yard of me, manifesting
a lofty and contemptuous disregard for all save themselves,
waited upon most deferentially by the smiling fat fellow, and
stared at by the aged man with as much admiring awe as if they
had each been nothing less than a lord mayor of London at the
very least. But now they leaned their heads together and spoke
in lowered tones, but something in the leering eyes of the one,
and the smiling lips of the other, told me that it was not of
horses that they spoke.
"... Bring her to reason, by gad!" said the slighter of the two,
setting down his empty glass with a bang, "oh, trust me to know
their pretty, skittish ways, trust me to manage 'em; I've never
failed yet, by gad!"
"Curse me, that's true enough!" said the other, and here they
sank their voices again.
My ale being finished, I took up my staff, a heavy, knotted
affair, and turned to go. Now, as I did so, my foot, by
accident, came in contact with the gold-mounted cane I have
mentioned, and sent it clattering to the floor. I was on the
point of stooping for it, when a rough hand gripped my shoulder
from behind, twisting me savagely about, and I thus found myself
staring upon two rows of sharp, white teeth.