316 A YANKEE TRADE. 



"A little round belly 



That shook when he laughed 



Like a bowl full of jelly." 



In a professional way "Hen" was a noddler, a pure, 

 unadulterated Connecticut Yankee horse trader, while 

 as a side issue, and for his own amusement, he con- 

 sumed rum. It was his besetting sin, and it, as it has 

 with thousands of others, kept him broke. Still, for 

 some unexplainable reason, "Hen" was never so 

 happy as when he touched bottom, as after he 

 sobered up, a matter that usually took three or 

 four days, he would borrow a five or ten-dollar note 

 from someone and begin to run it into material which 

 could be placed on the market. At such times he 

 would start off with a five-dollar trader or, in other 

 words, a horsehide with a few bones and a spark of 

 life in it, hitched to a borrowed wagon, and in all prob- 

 ability wearing a set of harness which had more rope 

 and strings in it than leather. "Hen" was then in his 

 glory, and from that time on till he felt like a capi- 

 talist, any man or boy from Windsor Locks to Weth- 

 ersfield could have a trade, and when he nodded you 

 were on and in up to your neck if you were interested 

 financially. 



Sometimes "Hen" would exchange horses five or 

 six times during a day, it all depending how the run 

 of people came to the stable yards he frequented. 

 But for that matter, he would swop horses with a 

 man on the road or any place you met him, and every 

 time he traded you could rest assured that he got 

 either a better horse or some money. There are 

 people in this world who trade horses for amusement, 

 but "Hen" Capen was not one of them. With him it 



