23 



John?" " Pretty well, Sir." I saw the rascal was 

 drunk, and asked him for the receipt. He fum- 

 bled first in this pocket and then in the other, and 

 at last produced an unstamped acknowledgment 

 for the money, but not a word of warranty ! The 

 next morning, when sober, he owned that ''the 

 gentleman" had given him half a crown, and " the 

 gentleman's" groom had helped him to spend it ! 

 The rest was easily explained ; " the gentleman" 

 was gone to Melton or Newmarket instead of 

 Tattersall's — but the mare went there : was cer- 

 tainly "as well known" as I could wish; it was 

 the only word of truth the fellow had spoken. She 

 had slipped her hip in foaling, and had been sold 

 three times in three months, at an average price of 

 ten pounds ! I lost only twenty by her, and 

 thought myself a lucky dog. 



I had not yet had enough of '^ gentlemen !" A 

 chesnut horse was advertised for sale at some 

 livery stables of the first respectability. He was 

 '^ bona fide the property of a gentleman, but too 

 high-couraged for his riding, and parted with for 

 no fault." The advertisement ended here, and the 

 absence of all the usual encomiums persuaded me 

 that the^ description was true. My eye does not 

 often deceive me as to the external pretensions of 

 a horse : the animal in question was beautiful. 



