180 THE ADVENTURES OF A GENTLEMAN 



generis, any injury to a horse while in the pur- 

 chaser's possession deprives him pro tanto of his re- 

 medy. This is my reason for giving such minute 

 directions for the treatment of the animal, while his 

 soundness remains doubtful. 



It often happens that a wary dealer will play oflf 

 an artful game with a dissatisfied customer. Allow 

 him five guineas, and he will take the horse back ; 

 or he "will exchange him with pleasure." I should 

 generally close with the first alternative, for extra 

 costs will always exceed five guineas ; but the second 

 is a desperate recourse : the exchange will to a cer- 

 tainty be an inferior animal, and in less than a week 

 he must be returned again, and all the battle is to 

 fought once more. By the time he has tried every 

 horse in the stables, the purchaser will have broken 

 half a dozen ribs, be minus his time and money into 

 the bargain, and find that his own legs must carry 

 him through the summer. 



It should always be the subject of anxious inquiry, 

 ere a hostile step be taken, whether the dealer is 

 worth powder and shot. Very few of them, taking 

 them as a body, are in solvent circumstances ; and 

 then a verdict will prove an empty triumph indeed. 



