218 



his horse to the Bazaar for sale by auction. Being 

 well aware of the tricks of such markets, and dis- 

 trustful of the honesty of any puffing agent, 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 com- 

 pensate for fifty faults. The biddings were slack, 

 however, malgre the auctioneer. Five pounds — 

 five pounds ten — six pounds — reluctantly dropped 

 at long intervals. " This will never 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 the novice himself at fifty guineas. He 

 regretted outstanding his market, but consoled 

 himself with the comfortable reflection that at least 

 he had learnt his horse's value, and had not been 

 taken in by the dealer. 



" By your leave — make way there — stand aside 

 gen'l'm'n" — and two or three rough salutations of 



