96 CONFESSIONS OF A HORSE DEALER. 



quietly with the first loss, for it is most assuredly the 



least. 



I remember a kind of horse-coping, half-betting, re- 

 gular " fly-fellow," taking up his abode in a populous 

 town where I then resided ; no one knew from whence 

 he came, and he took very good care not to tell anyone. 



The nature of my business frequently led me to a 

 respectable inn, kept by a well-known dealer in first- 

 class horses, which was also patronized by this worthy ; 

 many readers of sporting papers would know the man 

 I am describing, were I to write one of his names, for 

 he had many, but none, perhaps, was more appropriate 

 than the one given him one night at the inn, after a 

 clever dodge at cards, and that was Double-shuffle ; he 

 was a man of considerable astuteness, and well he 

 might be ; his forte, like that of many others, being to 

 get money by any means, provided he could steer clear 

 of the criminal law. Double-shuffle to those who 

 knew no better passed as a gentlemanly sort of man, 

 with a very good address ; he lived in respectable 

 furnished lodgings, had a wife, or mistress, who dressed 

 rather extravagantly ; she was at least fifteen stone 

 weight ; and her figure belonging to the style known in 

 the country as " dumpy.* ' 



Double-shuffle always had a few horses, or rather 

 screws, standing for sale at a livery stable, and was al- 

 ways on the look out for a flat. In one instance the 

 flat came from York, where he was formerly well-known 

 as a " Dealer in Horses," but not being very well up 



