BUYING AND SELLING HORSES 177 



" Glory be to the hivins, isn't it trailin' on him ? " 

 puUing the bridle closer as they speak. 



" Well, I will not teU you a lie in it."— This 

 when a horse roars, or is on three legs and some- 

 thing must be explained. " He does blow a little 

 loud, he does surely, but as ye huntin' ye'd never 

 notice it, with the barkin' of the dogs an' all ye'd 

 overlook it entirely." Or " He is a bit short." 

 Or " Devil a lie in it. He got a touch of rooma- 

 tissm an' me an' he out in the rain last month the 

 day Marty Dayly was buried." 



In all innocence I asked my aforesaid friend 

 Johnny, why all the horses belonging to one man 

 carried their tails so beautifully. 

 ' "If ye was to say ginger nuts to him ye'd see 

 the eye he'd throw on ye," explained Johnny 

 dryly. 



I did not say ginger nuts to the dealer, but I 

 felt more resigned to my own horse's less banner- 

 like tail. 



The man who might not like to speak of these 

 biscuits was one of the prettiest horsemen I have 

 ever seen. He could buy a perfect brute, something 

 you have known as a brute, and shave it, every 

 hair of it, and trim it, talk of ginger nuts to it ; 

 give it condition stuffs and bring it out so perfectly 

 handled that he almost persuaded you it was not 

 a brute. He could adjust a saddle so as to make 

 any horse look as if it had a shoulder. I have seen 

 him on hackneys and real fiat catchers, beasts 



