The whole of the front of my master’s house seemed to be devoted to business. The ground floor was quite open, with furniture of every description piled up to the ceiling; and from the windows above hung hearth-rugs, pieces of carpet, long strings of tinware, brushes, and so on, sufficient in my eyes to supply the entire population of Great Britain.
He seemed to deal in every household requisite; the number and variety of articles for sale were quite bewildering, and to an unpractised eye appeared to be piled up anyhow on either side, without any regard to law or order, leaving a small narrow lane only to travel in and out.
Down this lane came the boy Jim, Mr. Harkaway’s son and heir, a lad of twelve years, who hailed his father with a sullen visage, and the inquiry, ‘Now, then, what do you want?’
‘Take the nags round,’ said Mr. Harkaway, ‘and give ’em both a feed. You need not be particular with the new one, Blossom—he’s done no work to-day.’
‘Will he kick?’ asked Jim.
‘Quiet as a lamb,’ replied his father; and the boy, with rather a suspicious look at me, led Sam round the corner, and I perforce followed.
Mr. Harkaway’s stable was certainly a most abominable hole, bad enough to kill any horse fresh from the country with the look of it; but as I afterwards learnt from Sam and my own sad experience, there were hundreds of worse places, where even man himself was glad to dwell—indeed, an entire family lived and slept in a wretched room over our wretched stable.
Jim gave Sam a pretty good feed, and me a handful of hay; after this he made up two slovenly beds for us, and retired for the night. I was glad when he was gone, as I wanted to be alone with Sam, for I was burning with curiosity to hear what sort of life was in store for me.
Sam attacked the food given to him as if he were in need of it, and went on munching for some time without a word; and I kept silent, fearing that any remarks I might make would be deemed intrusive, and thus defeat the end I had in view. We were only divided by a pole, so that even lying down it would be easy to converse, and I waited patiently. Sam munched his food to the last wisp of hay and kernel of corn; then settling down, condescended to address me.
‘Well, youngster,’ he said, with a sort of grunt, ‘where do you hail from?’