Chap­ter 35: Jer­ry Bark­er intro­duces a turn­ing point in Black Beauty’s life, marked by com­fort, fair­ness, and sin­cere care. From the moment he begins work­ing under Jer­ry Bark­er, the atmos­phere changes. Jer­ry, with his gen­tle voice and hon­est hands, treats his hors­es not just as tools but as part­ners in his liveli­hood. His fam­i­ly shares the same warmth—Polly man­ages the home with calm effi­cien­cy, while young Har­ry and Dol­ly bring laugh­ter and curios­i­ty into each day. The house­hold runs on uni­ty, where every person—and every animal—matters. Work still gets done, but with­out fear or cru­el­ty. Jer­ry’s approach con­trasts with oth­ers in the cab trade who often cut cor­ners or over­work their hors­es. His actions reflect a belief that kind­ness and effi­cien­cy aren’t at odds. Instead, he proves that steady hands and a kind heart often deliv­er the best results, whether in life or on London’s busy streets.

One morn­ing, two young men rush to Jer­ry, plead­ing for a fast trip to Vic­to­ria Sta­tion and offer­ing extra pay if he push­es his horse hard­er. Jer­ry refus­es the offer, not out of arro­gance, but because he refus­es to strain his horse to make up for some­one else’s poor plan­ning. He explains calm­ly that hors­es have their lim­its and shouldn’t be pun­ished for human mis­takes. Lar­ry, a near­by dri­ver, agrees to take the job, smil­ing at the chance to earn more. But Jer­ry stands firm. Black Beau­ty, sens­ing his driver’s qui­et con­fi­dence, feels secure and respect­ed. This small inter­ac­tion says much about Jerry’s values—profit nev­er comes before com­pas­sion. He won’t gam­ble with the health of the ani­mals in his care for the sake of fleet­ing reward. His strength lies not in ambi­tion, but in his unwa­ver­ing integri­ty, and that strength shapes the safe, steady rhythm of his every­day work.

Lat­er that day, Jer­ry encoun­ters a sit­u­a­tion that tests his prin­ci­ples in a dif­fer­ent way. A young man, pale and limp­ing from a fall, des­per­ate­ly needs to catch a train at the South-East­ern Rail­way. Jer­ry, rec­og­niz­ing the urgency but not want­i­ng to alarm the horse, agrees to take him. He assures the man they will make it—without speed, but with pre­ci­sion. Black Beau­ty, well-rest­ed and respon­sive, moves at a smooth pace as Jer­ry nav­i­gates the streets with prac­ticed skill. They man­age to avoid delays and reach the sta­tion in time. The young man, grate­ful and sur­prised, thanks Jer­ry for both his calm­ness and care. Unlike the ear­li­er scene with the rush­ing men, this episode high­lights how com­pe­tence, trust, and team­work between man and horse can deliv­er results just as effectively—without risk or cru­el­ty. Jerry’s patience doesn’t slow him down; it makes him reli­able.

Back at the cab rank, Jer­ry recounts the day’s events to a few fel­low dri­vers who scoff at him for turn­ing down the high­er-pay­ing fare. One mocks him, say­ing he’s too soft to thrive in such a cut­throat busi­ness. Jer­ry, unboth­ered, responds with a light­heart­ed smile. He explains that he sleeps bet­ter know­ing he nev­er pushed his horse too hard or put a fare before another’s safe­ty. Pol­ly agrees whole­heart­ed­ly, adding that they’ve known days of stress and exhaus­tion, and they’d rather earn less than return to that life. Their chil­dren lis­ten close­ly, learn­ing not only how to man­age a cab but also how to live with pur­pose. Jerry’s choice becomes more than just a per­son­al stance—it’s a liv­ing les­son in integri­ty.

This chap­ter shines as a qui­et tes­ta­ment to char­ac­ter, con­trast­ing mate­r­i­al gain with peace of mind. Jerry’s life may not be filled with rich­es, but it is rich in val­ues that sus­tain him and those around him. His kind­ness toward Black Beau­ty mir­rors his respect for people—a bal­ance that gives mean­ing to every mile he dri­ves. In a city puls­ing with noise, haste, and self-inter­est, Jerry’s gen­tle­ness stands out. He shows that doing the right thing, even when unno­ticed or unre­ward­ed, builds a life that’s tru­ly full. His way of liv­ing is not only admirable; it’s sus­tain­able. Through his actions, read­ers are remind­ed that the path to ful­fill­ment isn’t paved in gold—it’s shaped by kind­ness, patience, and the strength to say no when it mat­ters.