DOUBLE SHUFFLE. 99 



"Good morning,'* said the innkeeper; "read this 

 letter." 



Double-shuffle reads. " Oh ! scoundrel, he calls me, 

 does he. I'll teach him better than to call a re- 

 spectable man a ' scoundrel.' Give me a nip of whisky, 

 cold. D n his Yorkshire eyes ! I'll be even with him, 

 for I'll bring an action for defamation ; I'll make him 

 prove his words, that I will." 



" Well, if you do that you will be a scoundrel," said I. 



" Oh, you be d d ! mind your own affairs ; I know 

 what I'm about. Scoundrel ah ! well, that's good. 

 Good morning, gentlemen," said Double, as he shuffled 

 out of the bar. 



" What do you think of the seventy guineas, and the 

 horse's box to and from York, now ?" said I to my friend. 



"I wish poor H had it," said he. 



The time arrived to send the man to the station for 

 the horse, but when he arrived there he found Double- 

 shuffle and his man waiting for the train. In obedience 

 to instructions, Double's man walked up to the other 

 and asked him to an inn, near the station gates ; he 

 was waiting for a horse coming by the same train, 

 but it would not arrive while they were away ; and if 

 it did, the horses would stand in the boxes until they 

 were ready to lead them home. The ruse took ; and 

 when the train arrived, in the men's absence Mr. Dou- 

 ble led the horse to his own stable and locked him up. 

 " It's no use being called a scoundrel for nothing, 3 ' 

 said he to himself. 



