42 THE ADVENTURES OF A GENTLEMAN 



I instantly perceived a corresponding mark below 

 the knee, (the usual traces of wearing a knee-cap,) 

 and had him put to his trot. His action was 

 uncommonly high, and this of course led me to 

 m'inute scrutiny, when I found traces of the speedy 

 cut. 



" Do you call that unsound, Sir ? All horses 

 with good action will cut themselves at times." 



His patience however was not quite exhausted. 

 The next horse had a splent ; the next a spavin ; a 

 third showed the recent extirpation of a corn ; and 

 a fourth exhibited symptoms of the mange. 



" Upon my word, Sir, you'll say next that a horse 

 is unsound if one ear is longer than the other ! you 

 won't find a horse here to suit you, I assure you." 



I thought so too and decamped, yet I believe 

 there were not less than a hundred all warranted or 

 to be returned in a week. 



I must request my readers to substitute Mr. 



X. Y. Z. for M. H , throughout the preceding 



pages ; for, such is the tenderness of conscience in 

 all the horse-dealing fraternity, that at least a dozen 

 individuals have accused me of meaning them by 

 Mr. H . "A pretty figure you have made of 



