"Do you think he 'd remember you?"
"Ay, that 'e would!"
"Do you suppose—look at him!—do you suppose you could hold him quieter than those ostlers?"
"'Old 'im, sir!" exclaimed the man, throwing back his shoulders.
"'Old 'im—ah, that I could! Try me!"
"I will," said Barnabas. "How would forty shillings a week suit you?"
"Sir?" exclaimed the old groom, staring.
"Since you need a job, and I need a groom, I'll have you—if you're willing."
The man's square jaw relaxed, his eyes glistened; then all at once he shook his head and sighed.
"Ah! sir," said he, "ah! young sir, my 'air's gray, an' I'm not so spry as I was—nobody wants a man as old as I be, and, seeing as you've got the 'oss, you ain't got no call to make game o' me, young sir. You 've got—the 'oss!"
Now at this particular moment Captain Slingsby took it into his head to interrupt them, which he did in characteristic fashion.