"
In a few minutes, supper was announced. The two boys sat down with
their father and Dick, and the meal was served in English fashion.
Dick had already become accustomed to the white-robed servants, at the
hotel at Madras, and everything seemed to him pleasant and home-like.
"Tomorrow, Dick," his uncle said, "you must have your first lesson in
riding."
The two boys looked up in surprise. They had been accustomed to horses
from their earliest remembrance, and it seemed to them incredible that
their tall cousin should require to be taught. Dick smiled at their
look of astonishment.
"It is not, with us in England, as it is here," he said. "Boys who
live in the country learn to ride, but in London, which is a very
great town, with nothing but houses for miles and miles everywhere,
few people keep horses to ride. The streets are so crowded, with
vehicles of all sorts, and with people on foot, that it is no pleasure
to ride in them, and everyone who can afford it goes about in a
carriage. Those who cannot, go in hired vehicles, or on foot. You
would hardly see a person on horseback once in a week."
"I do not like walking," Doast said gravely.
"Well, you see, you have no occasion to walk, as you always have your
horses.
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