352 A DIRTY TRICK. 



It seems very natural a rnan should wish to learn 

 all he can of a horse he wishes to buy; and this in- 

 duces many persons who do not intend any unfairness 

 to ask to whom he belongs not by-the-by that I 

 consider the owner as a certain source of correct in- 

 formation on the subject : in many cases quite the re- 

 verse ; still, to get to the owner seems to many persons 

 the great desideratum, forgetting, that if the salesman's 

 interest in selling a horse is three pounds, probably in 

 point of convenience or money the owner's is three 

 times as much : consequently, he has three times as 

 much interest in deceiving the buyer ; and if a pur- 

 chaser expects an owner to tell him the faults or any 

 faults of his horse, he expects a great deal more than 

 I should. 



This, however, does not explain how a salesman is 

 likely to suffer by being, as the purchaser would wish, 

 candid ; but the following case does. A. finds out by 

 some means that a horse standing at a Repository 

 belongs to B. A. has been asked, say fifty pounds ; 

 away he posts to B. ; tells him he has been looking at 

 his horse, and is disposed to buy him ; that he has 

 offered thirty-five, which has been refused. Now if 

 the salesman had sold the horse at forty, B. would 

 have received thirty-eight, so A. and B. lay their heads 

 together, and conclude the bargain by B. taking thirty- 

 seven. This is only one pound less than he would 

 have got had the horse been sold by the salesman at 

 forty : so the liberal pair concoct this little arrange- 

 ment between them. B. sends for his horse home ; of 

 course says nothing of his being sold ; merely pays 

 for keep, and thus, although he was sold through the 

 connection of the salesman, and from being seen and 

 shown at his establishment, he is thus done out of his 



