PUECHASING HOKSES. 33 



tact not to have it seen ; he had found himself 

 laughed at. It is unpleasant to have the conviction 

 forced on us that we have played a very foolish part ; 

 to have others see it also makes one wince again ; 

 hut to be subject to the jokes of one's friends on such 

 circumstance is flaying us alive. However, our young 

 purchaser heroically resolves to bear this, wisely 

 considering it better to be laughed at for what we 

 have done, than to persevere in a bad cause, and be 

 laughed at for that. But he is in another dilemma 

 as regards the getting rid of his stud, such as it is. 

 The advertising them as his property, to be sold at 

 Tattersall's, would probably call forth remarks on 

 them and him not the most pleasant or flattering. 

 To off"er them to his friends and acquaintances, 

 various hints that had been thrown out as regarded 

 their opinion of them convinced him would be worse 

 than useless. To off"er them to a dealer would be 

 virtually like giving a man one to take away the 

 other five. He would offer them to a dealer in ex- 

 change, butthen he must again trust to his own judg- 

 ment in selecting the horses he was to exchange them 



