Early one morning in December, the master came into the stable with an open letter in his hand. He looked rather serious.
“Good morning, John. I want to know if you have any complaints about James. Does he work hard? Is he respectful to you?”
“Yes, sir, always.”
“When he takes the horses out, does he stop to talk to his friends, or go into houses and leave the horses outside?”
“No, sir, certainly not. And if anybody has been saying that about James, I don’t believe it. I never had a steadier, more honest young fellow in this stable. I can trust his word and I can trust his work, and he is gentle and clever with the horses. Anyone who wants to know about James Howard,” said John with a firm nod, “can come to John Manly.”
A broad smile spread over the master’s face. He looked kindly at James, who was standing at the door.
“James, my lad, come here. I am very glad that John’s opinion of you is the same as mine. It is not always easy to get John’s opinion about people, so I asked him these questions to find it out quickly. Now, I have a letter from my brother-in-law, Sir Clifford Williams. His old coachman is getting weak, and he wants a young groom who can work with him and take his place one day. It would be a good start for you, James. I don’t want to lose you, and I know John would lose his right hand.”
“That I would, sir,” said John, “but I would not stand in his way for the world.”
“How old are you, James?”
“Nineteen next May, sir.”
“That’s young. What do you think, John?”
“It is young, sir, but he is as steady as a man, and he has a light, firm hand and a quick eye.”
“Your word will count most, John,” said the master, “because Sir Clifford writes that he would like a man trained by you better than any other.”
So it was settled that James would go to Sir Clifford in a few weeks. Until then he had to practise driving, and Ginger and I went out with him nearly every day. On Saturdays the master always seemed to need to go to the railway station just when the train was coming in. Then cabs, carriages and carts were all trying to cross the narrow bridge together, with a sharp turn up to the station at the end. That bridge needed good horses and good drivers.