HOW TO BUY A HORSE 213 



Horse dealers are frequently spoken of as un- 

 conscionable rogues. And there is no doubt that 

 many of them do lack the virtue of probity and 

 straight speaking. But a reputable dealer in 

 horses with an established business can be as fair 

 as any other business man, and I have known 

 many such. Such an horse dealer has a reputation 

 to maintain that is as valuable to him as that of a 

 banker is to him. If you will place confidence in 

 him he is not apt to betray it, for he values his 

 customer and knows that there will probably be 

 other sales to make. 



But the dealers who advertise in the newspa- 

 pers that they will sell from private stables horses 

 worth $500 or $1000 for $100 or $200 are the 

 pirates of the trade. They give one excuse or an- 

 other why such immense bargains are offered, 

 and they make many sales. They are really " con- 

 fidence-men," and why the police authorities 

 should permit them to continue in their thieving 

 operations is one of the mysterious manifesta- 

 tions of city life that I could never understand. It 

 was from one of these rogues that the college pro- 

 fessor I just mentioned bought his prize pair. 



