294 ZACHARIAH SIMPSON, ESQ. 



through Mr. Simpson's suspending payment. Of the 

 truth of this romantic tale there can be no doubt, as 

 Sturgeon told it me himself, and said it was ' a hard case 

 for a labouring man to have two such heavy losses in so 

 short a time.' It would be still more interesting to 

 know exactly how he got the money together. 



I have not the least desire to be censorious, especially 

 as to the actions of a gentleman with whom I was on 

 friendly terms, but I must confess that I sometimes had 

 my suspicions that Mr. Simpson's eccentricity at times 

 reached a point when he was inclined to regard some- 

 what obliquely the rights of others. But as these cases 

 were connected with horse-dealing, in which, as in love 

 and war, some think that ' all is fair,' too much should 

 perhaps not be made of what he did or attempted to do. 

 For one thing, he several times asked me if I really 

 thought that a veterinary surgeon could tell the age of a 

 horse by the appearance of its teeth ; or in other words, 

 could a two-year-old be known from a three-year-old by 

 the same means? To which, when I used to say ' Yes,' 

 he would reply, * I don't believe they can.' Of course 

 there are several methods taken to arrive at the ages 

 of various animals at different periods of their life. I 

 accordingly reminded him of the story of a professional 

 man who said he could tell the age of any number of 

 horses by the never-failing teeth -test. 



' Yes,' said an elderly lady present, ' and so can I any 

 quantity of chickens or geese by the same means.' 



' Why,' said the gentleman with astonishment, 

 1 poultry have no teeth !' 



' No,' replied the lady, ' but I have.' 



This did not seem thoroughly to convince him. I 

 gave the attempt up, thinking either that he must be 

 incorrigible or my story pointless. 



