72 PRECEPT AND PRACTICE. 



sold a dozen times over witliin the last three months." 

 He then tells you what perhaps is the truth, that he 

 is defective in his wind, or, as he terms it, regularly 

 hroken-winded, which he assures the buyer he will 

 fiud to-morrow morning, when the effect of the 

 dosing he has had is gone oflf. He then probably 

 adds that he is restive, and " not fit for a gentleman 

 nohow." Tlie purchaser looks blank at this, and, 

 whether he believes all the fellow has told him or 

 not, he is quite convinced he is done. The fellow 

 sticks to him like a bar. If the buyer, to avoid 

 ridicule and exposure, orders the horse to be taken 

 home, either the horse or the owner are closely fol- 

 lowed, most probably the owner ; for the man taking 

 the horse home is most likely in the pay of the coper 

 will tell him where he takes him to, and will further 

 persuade the buyer that the man offering to take the 

 horse is a very respectable man, and recommends 

 the gentleman to take whatever is offered him for a 

 horse '*not fit for a gentleman nohow." The gentle- 

 man, if unused to such transactions, may wonder no 

 little what the man can be so desirous to buy a 



