CHAPTER XXXII. 



A "confidence" man. 



T(. WARDS the close of this show in New York, a 

 somewhat noted cattle-breeder (who was then absent 

 in England) wrote home to an agent in this country, 

 directing him to secure all the Grey ShanghaeS obtain- 

 able, and further to contract for the raising of hun- 

 dreds or thousands more, to be delivered during the 

 following season. * 



At this late day, sueh an undertaking appeared (to the 

 initiated) to exhibit a most extraordinary confidence in the 

 reality of the hen-trade; but, to those who "had been 

 there," it was very amusing to witness the new-born szeal 

 of this curiously verdant purchaser, who invested so large 

 an amount of money, in 1854, in this hum ! 

 ' The most extravagant prices were paid by this person 

 for Grey fowls, and large orders were given by the agent,- 

 to diiferent breeders, in New England, for future supplies. 

 Several hundred birds were then purchased, at rates vary- 

 ing Jrom four or five dollars to fifty dollars each ; and 



