I found he was a very good rider, and thoughtful for his horse, too.

When he came home, the lady was at the hall door as he rode up.

"Well, my dear," she said, "how do you like him ?" "He is exactly what John said," he replied; "a pleasanter creature I never wish to mount.

What shall we call him ?" She said: "He is really quite a beauty, and he has such a sweet, good-tempered face and such a fine, intelligent eye--what do you say to calling him 'Black Beauty' ?" [Illustration] "Black Beauty--why, yes, I think that is a very good name.

If you like, it shall be his name"; and so it was.
When John went into the stable, he told James that the master and mistress had chosen a good sensible name for me, that meant something.
They both laughed, and James said, "If it was not for bringing back the past, I should have named him Rob Roy, for I never saw two horses more alike." "That's no wonder," said John; "didn't you know that Farmer Grey's old Duchess was the mother of them both ?" I had never heard that before; and so poor Rob Roy who was killed at that hunt was my brother! I did not wonder that my mother was so troubled.