"A well-bred horse! but he won't get fat,
Though I've done the best 1 can;
He keeps as poor as a blessed rat!"
Said the sorrowful stable-man.
"I've bled and I've blistered him-and to-day
I bought him a monster ball;
But, blow the horse! let me do what 1 may,
He won't get fat at all.
"I've given him medicines galore,
And linseed oil and bran,
And yet the brute looks awfully poor,"
Said the woebegone stable-man.
One glance the intelligent stranger threw
At the ribs of the hollow weed,
Then asked, with an innocent air, "Did you
Forget to give him a feed?"
First published in The Bulletin, 10 September 1898.
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