270 SECUNDUM ABTEM. 



does not, as Muff did, direct Tom to mount him : he 

 merely says (for such men in these cases deal pretty 

 much in monosyllabic terms), " go on, walk." If 

 this pleases him, or nearly so, he then merely says, 

 " run on." When he has seen enough of his trot, on 

 the horse returning he holds up his hand: " wo-ho." 

 The nag is now placed against the wall : " give him 

 the length of his bridle, and let him stand." The 

 dealer and his men well know what this means, and 

 by this time thoroughly know the sort of customer 

 they have to deal with. They see he is, as Tom 

 says, wide-awake : they know he will have his own 

 way, and see the horse in his own way, or not look at 

 him at all. It is true, that if this horse has been but 

 two days in the dealer's stable, he has been taught 

 his lesson too well not to be kept on the qui vive, if 

 wished, by private signals (not very easy to detect), 

 in spite of the man at his head pretending to coax 

 him to stand still. But, in Tom's phrase, he knows 

 very well that " Wide-awake won't have it ;" so still 

 he does stand. And now he examines him in earnest : 

 he looks at him, sideways, before and behind, looks 

 minutely at those parts of his shape and make that 

 indicate the possession or want of powers for the pur- 

 pose for which he intends him ; carefully looks and 

 ascertains whether he stands well and firmly on his 

 legs, and whether they are placed as legs should be : 

 he then examines him as to soundness, not merely 

 to ascertain whether he is sound at the present 

 moment (for the dealer having warranted to such a 

 man, the probability is that he is sound), but he looks 

 carefully to see whether there is anything that indi- 

 cates a disposition to unsoundness, as in that case he 

 might be very sound to-day and very unsound in a 



