ers
than any of you.' 'How do you know that?' said one; the very same person
whom I had heard complaining in the street of the paucity of good horses
in the fair. 'Come, let us know what you ask for him?' 'A hundred and
fifty pounds!' said I; 'neither more nor less.' 'Do you call that a
great price?' said the man. 'Why, I thought you would have asked double
that amount! You do yourself injustice, young man.' 'Perhaps I do,'
said I, 'but that's my affair; I do not choose to take more.' 'I wish
you would let me get into the saddle,' said the man; 'the horse knows
you, and therefore shows to more advantage; but I should like to see how
he would move under me, who am a stranger. Will you let me get into the
saddle, young man?' 'No,' said I, 'I will not let you get into the
saddle.' 'Why not?' said the man. 'Lest you should be a Yorkshireman,'
said I, 'and should run away with the horse.' 'Yorkshire?' said the man;
'I am from Suffolk; silly Suffolk--so you need not be afraid of my
running away with the horse.' 'Oh! if that's the case,' said I, 'I
should be afraid that the horse would run away with you; so I will by no
means let you mount.' 'Will you let me look in his mouth?' said the man.
'If you please,' said I; 'but I tell you, he's apt to bite.' 'He can
scarcely be a worse bite than his master,' said the man, looking into the
horse's mouth; 'he's four off. I say, young man, will you warrant this
horse?' 'No,' said I; 'I never warrant horses; the horses that I ride
can always warrant themselves.' 'I wish you would let me speak a word to
you,' said he. 'Just come aside. It's a nice horse,' said he, in a half
whisper, after I had ridden a few paces aside with him. 'It's a nice
horse,' said he, placing his hand upon the pommel of the saddle and
looking up in my face, 'and I think I can find you a customer. If you
would take a hundred, I think my lord would purchase it, for he has sent
me about the fair to look him up a horse, by which he could hope to make
an honest penny.' 'Well,' said I, 'and could he not make an honest
penny, and yet give me the price I ask?' 'Why,' said the go-between, 'a
hundred and fifty pounds is as much as the animal is worth, or nearly so;
and my lord, do you see . . .' 'I see no reason at all,' said I, 'why I
should sell the animal for less than he is worth, in order that his
lordship may be benefited by him; so that if his lordship wants to make
an honest penny, he must fin