The Romany Rye

by George Borrow

  CHAPTER XIX

  TRYING THE HORSE--THE FEATS OF TAWNO--MAN WITH THE REDWAISTCOAT--DISPOSAL OF PROPERTY

  I saw nothing more of Mr. Petulengro that evening; on the morrow,however, he came and informed me that he had secured the horse for me,and that I was to go and pay for it at noon. At the hour appointed,therefore, I went with Mr. Petulengro and Tawno to the public, where, asbefore, there was a crowd of company. The landlord received us in thebar with marks of much satisfaction and esteem, made us sit down, andtreated us with some excellent mild draught ale. 'Who do you think hasbeen here this morning?' he said to me. 'Why that fellow in black, whocame to carry me off to a house of Popish devotion, where I was to passseven days and nights in meditation, as I think he called it, before Ipublicly renounced the religion of my country. I read him a prettylecture, calling him several unhandsome names, and asking him what hemeant by attempting to seduce a churchwarden of the Church of England. Itell you what, he ran some danger, for some of my customers, learning hiserrand, laid hold on him, and were about to toss him in a blanket, andthen duck him in the horse-pond. I, however, interfered, and said thatwhat he came about was between me and him, and that it was no business oftheirs. To tell you the truth, I felt pity for the poor devil, moreespecially when I considered that they merely sided against him becausethey thought him the weakest, and that they would have wanted to serve mein the same manner had they considered me a down pin; so I rescued himfrom their hands, told him not to be afraid, for that nobody should touchhim, and offered to treat him to some cold gin and water with a lump ofsugar in it; and, on his refusing, told him that he had better makehimself scarce, which he did, and I hope I shall never see him again. SoI suppose you are come for the horse; mercy upon us!--who would havethought you would have become the purchaser? The horse, however, seemedto know it by its neighing. How did you ever come by the money?However, that's no matter of mine. I suppose you are strongly backed bycertain friends you have.'

  I informed the landlord that he was right in supposing that I came forthe horse, but that, before I paid for him, I should wish to prove hiscapabilities. 'With all my heart,' said the landlord. 'You shall mounthim this moment.' Then, going into the stable, he saddled and bridledthe horse, and presently brought him out before the door. I mounted him,Mr. Petulengro putting a heavy whip into my hand, and saying a few wordsto me in his own mysterious language. 'The horse wants no whip,' saidthe landlord. 'Hold your tongue, daddy,' said Mr. Petulengro. 'My palknows quite well what to do with the whip; he's not going to beat thehorse with it.' About four hundred yards from the house there was ahill, to the foot of which the road ran almost on a perfect level;towards the foot of this hill I trotted the horse, who set off at a long,swift pace, seemingly at the rate of about sixteen miles an hour. Onreaching the foot of the hill, I wheeled the animal round, and trottedhim towards the house--the horse sped faster than before. Ere he hadadvanced a hundred yards, I took off my hat, in obedience to the advicewhich Mr. Petulengro had given me, in his own language, and holding itover the horse's head, commenced drumming on the crown with the knob ofthe whip; the horse gave a slight start, but instantly recoveringhimself, continued his trot till he arrived at the door of thepublic-house, amidst the acclamations of the company, who had all rushedout of the house to be spectators of what was going on. 'I see now whatyou wanted the whip for,' said the landlord, 'and sure enough thatdrumming on your hat was no bad way of learning whether the horse wasquiet or not. Well, did you ever see a more quiet horse, or a bettertrotter?' 'My cob shall trot against him,' said a fellow dressed invelveteen, mounted on a low powerful-looking animal--'my cob shall trotagainst him to the hill and back again--come on!' We both started; thecob kept up gallantly against the horse for about half the way to thehill, when he began to lose ground; at the foot of the hill he was aboutfifteen yards behind. Whereupon I turned slowly and waited for him. Wethen set off towards the house, but now the cob had no chance, being atleast twenty yards behind when I reached the door. This running ofhorses, the wild uncouth forms around me, and the ale and beer which werebeing guzzled from pots and flagons, put me wonderfully in mind of theancient horse-races of the heathen north. I almost imagined myselfGunnar of Hlitharend at the race of--.

  'Are you satisfied?' said the landlord. 'Didn't you tell me that hecould leap?' I demanded. 'I am told he can,' said the landlord; 'but Ican't consent that he should be tried in that way, as he might bedamaged.' 'That's right!' said Mr. Petulengro, 'don't trust my pal toleap that horse; he'll merely fling him down and break his neck and hisown. There's a better man than he close by; let him get on his back andleap him.' 'You mean yourself, I suppose,' said the landlord. 'Well, Icall that talking modestly, and nothing becomes a young man more thanmodesty.' 'It ain't I, daddy,' said Mr. Petulengro. 'Here's the man,'said he, pointing to Tawno. 'Here's the horse-leaper of the world!''You mean the horse-back-breaker,' said the landlord. 'That big fellowwould break down my cousin's horse.' 'Why he weighs only sixteen stone,'said Mr. Petulengro; 'and his sixteen stone, with his way of handling ahorse, does not press so much as any other one's thirteen. Only let himget on the horse's back and you'll see what he can do!' 'No,' said thelandlord, 'it won't do.' Whereupon Mr. Petulengro became very muchexcited, and, pulling out a handful of money, said: 'I'll tell you what,I'll forfeit these guineas if my black pal there does the horse any kindof damage; duck me in the horse-pond if I don't.' 'Well,' said thelandlord, 'for the sport of the thing I consent, so let your white palget down, and your black pal mount as soon as he pleases.' I felt rathermortified at Mr. Petulengro's interference, and showed no disposition toquit my seat; whereupon he came up to me and said, 'Now, brother, do getout of the saddle; you are no bad hand at trotting, I am willing toacknowledge that; but at leaping a horse there is no one like Tawno. Letevery dog be praised for his own gift. You have been showing off in yourline for the last half-hour, now do give Tawno a chance of exhibiting alittle; poor fellow, he hasn't often a chance of exhibiting, as his wifekeeps him so much in sight.' Not wishing to appear desirous ofengrossing the public attention, and feeling rather desirous to see howTawno, of whose exploits in leaping horses I had frequently heard, wouldacquit himself in the affair, I at length dismounted, and Tawno at abound leaped into the saddle, where he really looked like Gunnar ofHlitharend, save and except that the complexion of Gunnar was florid,whereas that of Tawno was of nearly Mulatto darkness, and that allTawno's features were cast in the Grecian model, whereas Gunnar had asnub nose. 'There's a leaping-bar behind the house,' said the landlord.'Leaping-bar!' said Mr. Petulengro, scornfully. 'Do you think my blackpal ever rides at a leaping-bar? No more than at a windle-straw. Leapover that meadow wall, Tawno.' Just pass the house, in the direction inwhich I had been trotting, was a wall about four feet high, beyond whichwas a small meadow. Tawno rode the horse gently up to the wall,permitted him to look over, then backed him for about ten yards, andpressing his calves against the horse's sides, he loosed the rein, andthe horse launching forward, took the leap in gallant style. 'Well done,man and horse!' said Mr. Petulengro; 'now come back, Tawno.' The leapfrom the side of the meadow was, however, somewhat higher; and the horse,when pushed at it, at first turned away; whereupon Tawno backed him to agreater distance, pushed the horse to a full gallop, giving a wild cry;whereupon the horse again took the wall, slightly grazing one of his legsagainst it. 'A near thing,' said the landlord, 'but a good leap. Now,no more leaping, so long as I have control over the animal.' The horsewas then led back to the stable; and the landlord, myself, and companionsgoing into the bar, I paid down the money for the horse.

  Scarcely was the bargain concluded, when two or three of the companybegan to envy me the possession of the horse, and forcing their way intothe bar, with much noise and clamour, said that the horse had been soldtoo cheap. One fellow in particular, with a red waistcoat, the son of awealthy farmer, said that if he had but known that the horse had been sogood a one, he would have bought it
at the first price asked for it,which he was now willing to pay, that is, to-morrow,supposing--'Supposing your father will let you have the money,' said thelandlord, 'which, after all, might not be the case; but, however that maybe, it is too late now. I think myself the horse has been sold for toolittle money, but if so all the better for the young man, who cameforward when no other body did with his money in his hand. There, takeyourselves out of my bar,' said he to the fellows; 'and a prettyscoundrel you,' said he to the man of the red waistcoat, 'to say thehorse has been sold too cheap, why, it was only yesterday you said he wasgood for nothing, and were passing all kinds of jokes at him. Takeyourself out of my bar, I say, you and all of you,' and he turned thefellows out. I then asked the landlord whether he would permit the horseto remain in the stable for a short time, provided I paid for hisentertainment, and on his willingly consenting, I treated my friends withale, and then returned with them to the encampment.

  That evening I informed Mr. Petulengro and his party that on the morrow Iintended to mount my horse, and leave that part of the country in questof adventures; inquiring of Jasper where, in the event of my selling thehorse advantageously, I might meet with him, and repay the money I hadborrowed of him; whereupon Mr. Petulengro informed me that in about tenweeks I might find him at a certain place at the Chong gav. I thenstated that as I could not well carry with me the property which Ipossessed in the dingle, which after all was of no considerable value, Iresolved to bestow the said property, namely, the pony, tent,tinker-tools, etc., on Ursula and her husband, partly because they werepoor, and partly on account of the great kindness which I bore to Ursula,from whom I had, on various occasions, experienced all manner ofcivility, particularly in regard to crabbed words. On hearing thisintelligence, Ursula returned many thanks to her gentle brother as shecalled me, and Sylvester was so overjoyed that, casting aside his usualphlegm, he said I was the best friend he had ever had in the world, andin testimony of his gratitude swore that he would permit me to give hiswife a choomer in the presence of the whole company, which offer,however, met with a very mortifying reception; the company frowningdisapprobation, Ursula protesting against anything of the kind, and Imyself showing no forwardness to avail myself of it, having inheritedfrom nature a considerable fund of modesty, to which was added no slightstore acquired in the course of my Irish education. I passed that nightalone in the dingle in a very melancholy manner, with little or no sleep,thinking of Isopel Berners; and in the morning when I quitted it I shedseveral tears, as I reflected that I should probably never again see thespot where I had passed so many hours in her company.