166 



THE ADVENT CTRES OF A GENTLEMAN 



conscience ; the parties are alike strangers to each 

 other; the buyer indeed, is the most open to sus- 

 picion of the two, for the seller has the prima facie 

 evidence of respectability, that he is the occupier of 

 a stable, and the owner of a horse ! The " timid old 

 gentleman" feels that the reason of the thing is 

 against him. The deposit is only half the value ; 

 he pays the twenty guineas, and rides away with all 

 possible assurances and good Avishes. 



In ten minutes he discovers his purchase to be 

 '' a roarer." What then ? " Timid old gentlemen" 

 are neither dandies nor highfliers, and asthmatic in- 

 firmities are surely entitled to the indulgent sym- 

 pathy of age. In ten minutes more the " neat little 

 cob" blunders against a scavenger's night cart, and 



