“Not with me.”

“Ah! they allus knows who’ll stand it and who won’t.”

Jack drained his tankard, and setting it down on the bench beside him, rose to his feet.

“She’d not dream of kicking a friend. Jenny!”

The ostler watched her pick her way towards her master, coquetting with her head, and sidling round him in the most playful manner possible. A slow smile dawned on the man’s face.

“Ah, it be a purty sight to watch her⁠—so it be!” he said, and received a guinea from Jack, who never tired of listening to praise of his beloved Jenny.