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their guests are often knaves. Before I was duly 

 sensible of the value of these precautions, I one 

 day noticed that my horse had made very rapid 

 work with his feed. I had seen the oats put into 

 his manger, and had been engaged about five or 

 ten minutes in conversation with the ostler in the 

 yard. I knew that the animal required, at the 

 least, five-and-twenty minutes to finish his corn 

 when mixed with chaff, yet on returning to his 

 manger I found it all gone. I told the ostler my 

 suspicions, and he was not less anxious than myself 

 to detect the culprit. I ordered him to bring another 

 feed, and a handful of nettles : I also bought a 

 little cow-itch at a druggist's shop in the town. 

 We put the whole unobserved into the manger, and 

 tied the halter to the rack to prevent the horse 

 from reaching the oats. We then retired, and the 

 trap succeeded. A gentleman's servant was attend- 

 ing a pair of carriage horses in the same stable. 

 In less than ten minutes the rascal came out swear- 

 ing in no measured terms at the " cockney fool 

 that fed his horse with nettles," and rubbing his 

 hands with a grin of horror mixed with pain, that 

 gave me infinite satisfaction. I immediately ten- 

 dered him the kindest advice ; " a mixture of 

 nettles and cow-itch was the finest diet in the 

 world for a coach-horse on a journey !" When I 



