THE HUNTER. 55

«That was very kind, Uncle Thomas.”

*«« When the affections of the horse are gained,
Frank, whether by its fellow-brutes or by man,
he becomes a steady and determined friend. I
know an illustration of this, which will bear a
contrast with the fidelity of the dog.

“On one occasion, a gentleman, mounted on
a favourite hunter, was returning home from a
jovial meeting, where he had been too liberal in
his potations, and thus destroyed his power of
preserving his equilibrium, and rendered him-
self at the same time somewhat drowsy. In
consequence, he had the misfortune to fall from
his saddle, but in so easy a manner, that it had
not the effect of rousing him from his sleepy
fit, and he felt quite content to repose where he
alighted. His faithful steed, instead of scam-
pering home, as one would have expected, stood
by his prostrate master, and kept a strict watch
over him. He lay thus till sunrise, when he
was discovered by some labourers, sleeping very
contentedly on a heap of stones by the road-side.