HORSE DEALING 231 



his own knees irretrievably, and as by way of appro- 

 priate rebuke caused his rider ahnost to bite his 

 tongue off in the fall ! The horse had a running 

 thrush.' 1 



The following anecdote, related by the writer just 

 quoted, will show that public sales are dangerous 

 places for sellers as well as for buyers. 'A learned 

 barrister, w^ell known in the literary world for his 

 critical acumen, sent his horse to the Bazaar for sale 

 by auction. Being well aware of the tricks of such 

 markets, he attended the sale himself, and carefully 

 noted the number of his lot in his pocket-book. He 

 felt not a little pleased at the horse's spirited entree 

 when ushered up the ride, and still more gratified 

 at the auctioneer's ingenuity in painting his merits, 

 though utterly at a loss to guess where the deuce he 

 had learnt them. He had purchased the animal a 

 week before for forty guineas, and hitherto had not 

 discovered a single redeeming quality to compensate 

 for fifty faults. The biddings were slack however, 

 malgre the auctioneer. Five pounds — five ten — six 

 pounds — reluctantly dropped at long intervals. " This 

 will ne\er do," thought the learned gentleman, and 

 by way of stimulating competition, he jumped at 

 once to thirty guineas. The knowing ones stared, 

 and promptly took the hint : in less than a minute 

 the lot was knocked down to him at fifty guineas. 

 He regretted out-standing his market, but consoled 



* Stephen — Adventures of a Gentleman in Search of a Horse. 



