Tendency and Accident 159 



We had in our neighbourhood a horse that 

 deserved to be famous. He was a working horse, 

 a " very nice " horse, apparently perfect in every- 

 thing, except that he could not work. It was not 

 that he wouldn't ; he couldn't. Subject to that 

 slight defect in a working horse, he was bought, for 

 something over three pounds, by a very clever man, 

 who knew all about him and how to manage him. 

 I took much interest in the transaction, as I do 

 in all actual facts that I cannot understand. I 

 wanted to make out from experience under 

 observation what was the correct management for 

 a working horse that could never work. The 

 clever man brought him home, took great care of 

 him, took him again to the fair, and sold him at a 

 great profit, this time to a buyer who did not 

 know the most money making peculiarity of the 

 horse. The new owner brought him home, but it 

 soon became plain that he did not understand how 

 to " manage " him. Lacking the intelligence to 

 see how a working horse incapable of work could, 

 by his incapacity, be made the more profitable, 

 he regretted his bargain and demanded the money 

 back. Now, do not imagine for a moment that 

 there was anything either legally or commercially 

 wrong in the sale of the horse. He was sold "as 

 he stood," not as he worked. There was no surety 

 or guarantee of anything. It was what the horsey 

 men would call " perfectly straight," and a man 

 cannot be accused of going wrong while he acts 

 up to the legal and moral standards of his time, 

 place and associations. It ended in returning the 



