HORSE DEALING 237 



wonder was disposed of. Eomford even caught the 

 mania, and was determined to have a peep at the 

 phenomenon, and quietly walked one fine morning 

 into the mews where the beauty was preserved. 

 The nag was paraded, and then the following short 

 colloquy passed : — " There, Eomford, is not he a top- 

 sawyer ? You complain I have not bought any horses 

 of you lately ; bring such a sort as that and I'll buy 

 a bundled." Romford picked up his ash-plant, 

 slapped it smartly on his boot-top, and walking 

 quietly out of the yard by his friend's side, said: 

 ^' Well, Piccadilly, 'tis a nice horse and he looks fresh 

 and well, and I bought him eight months ago at 

 Hovv^den fair at thirty-five sovereigns." Such was 

 the fact.' 1 



Smartness in horse dealing is not confined to 

 Great Britain. The Yankees are awfully ' cute ' at 

 making a bargain. The following is a picture of an 

 American horse-dealer : 



' Just before the snow and ice disappeared, a 

 Yankee field officer, a horse-dealer by vocation, one 

 Major Slocombe, arrived in our garrison (Quebec) 

 from the States. He brought with him a strino- of 

 horses, one or two of which, according to the major's 

 account, would have distanced Eclipse. Give me an 

 American horse-dealer for hyperbole and gag; he 

 is the boy for metaphor. A friend of mine. Captain 



' " Ringwood," in Sporting Magazine, February 1834. 



