148 



prima facie evidence of respectability, that he is 

 the occupier of a stable, and the owner of a 

 horse ! The "timid old gentleman" feels that the 

 reason of the thing is against him. The deposit is 

 onli/ half the value ; he pays the twenty guineas, 

 and rides away with all possible assurances and 

 good wishes. 



In ten minutes he discovers his purchase to 

 be "a roarer." What then? "Timid old gen- 

 tlemen" are neither dandies nor highfliers, and 

 asthmatic infirmities are surely entitled to the 

 indulgent sympathy of age. In ten minutes 

 more the " neat little cob" blunders against a 

 scavenger's night cart, and swerving away to 



avoid being run over, is taken in flank by the pole 

 of an omnibus : this is very disagreeable, to be 

 sure ; but what "little horse" in Eno;land can make 



