"I like horses," he said, "and I mean to get my living out of them.

Don't talk to me about my position in the world.

Talk to my eldest brother, who gets the money and the title." Starting in life with these sensible views, and with a small capital of five thousand pounds, Hardyman took his own place in the sphere that was fitted for him.

At the period of this narrative he was already a rich man, and one of the greatest authorities on horse-breeding in England.

His prosperity made no change in him.