DEALERS' TRICKS 119 



before they were overdriven on a heavy meal. Again 

 the horseman is to blame, for over-driving or over- 

 riding. And the favourite horse, instead of being put 

 to rest, is sold to a dealer, who gives him a drink to 

 effect a temporary cure and places him in a fair or a 

 repository. His dragsmen are on the lookout for the 

 unwary — " the mugs," as they call them — and they are 

 bluffed into buying the miserable brute. The temporary 

 cure " sets a wid " for about two days. When the new 

 owner learns, to his astonishment, that he has bought 

 a broken-winded horse he is anxious to get rid of it. 

 The dragsmen are close handy, and they buy it back for 

 a small sum, and again the unfortunate wid is " set ''* 

 and resold to some other poor, unsuspecting fool. 



Another artful catch (much resorted to by copers and 

 their dragsmen who infest the sale-yards) is to place a 

 wid horse in a repository with a glowing warranty and 

 a big reserve. The horse is not sold, and a " sham '* 

 is put up to take the horse home. But the dragsmen 

 find a fool who has been looking for a bargain ; he refers 

 to the catalogue and is impressed with the warranty. 

 A drink is suggested in " the little pub. round the 

 comer," but the misguided purchaser realises too late 

 that the warranty is purely a fake, the sale having been 

 effected outside the repository and not intra muros* 



