CHAPTER VIII. 



CHEZ FOBBS. 



Mr. Edward Fobbs, of Cuta-svay Mount, was an estimable man 

 (from some points of view), and a horse-dealer by birth. No, 

 reader, I am not making a mistake in saying this. He was, 

 really. That is, his father was a horse-dealer before him, and 

 there wasn't a trick of the trade unknown to Ned Fobbs 

 when he attained the age of fifteen. Fobbs ptTe was con- 

 ducting a very flourishing business at the time his career 

 was temporarily cut short by receiving a seven years' 

 appointment at Portland — something in the stone-quarrying 

 line. He had forgotten his own name, and signed somebody- 

 else's to a cheque for a large amount. During this period of 

 retirement, Fobbs fils, playfully known as ' Honest Edward,' 

 because he was the most astounding truth- crusher and the 

 ' smartest ' horse-dealer in the country, carried on the 

 business, and did it right well — from the dealer's point of 

 view, hien cnteiidu. What his wares, perchance, lacked in 

 form, youth, quality, or what not, was always amply made up 

 for by Edward's soft and honeyed tongue. Eeport said that 

 this mis-called ' unruly member ' had a rough side to it ; but 

 if so, none of his customers had ever experienced it. Probably 

 any choice gems of speech which he may have possessed were 

 exclusively reserved for his dependants. ' Honest Edward ' 



H.H. H 



