St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-11-20

tth' 'ti'i SlNt NIisNl
forty pounds for Il horse"
That is very little: but. still, there
Is the expense of his standing at latter
sails, and the commission and the risk.
Say fifty, and You shall have him
Now, as had not thought for Il mo-
mcnt that IL hundred pounds would buy
the animal, this proposition quite took
my breath away.
Il should like Il veterinary surgeon to
see him." | said.
Every good" replied the man. Il
have no objection, provided he is close
at hand. But | must go on tonight
and if the horse is not sold, must take
him with me-
Il could not get professional advice
before tomorrow ut the earliest" said
Never mind | will give You war
rant" replied the dealer.
WAS tempted, for it did seem to he
Il bargain. | looked the horse over
carefully, Stroked his legs down with
my hands. and tried to find Flemish,
but could not. And while was going
through this prrresS. he rubbed his nose
against my shoulder. and then pnked it
int" my pocket, to see if hat some
such drlicacy there as IN apple or IL car
rot. i'll Il way which proved him free
from Wee.
"WclI." said finally, Il know moth
ing about horses myself: and since You
cannot allow time for him t" he exam
iucd. forty pounds must be my last
bid"
SAY fifty
No: forty
"FoitN five.
mo; forty.
AT least you will make it guimcas ,"
agreed t" that and he came into
my study. where he drew up warr;ln-
tN and receipt: and ! gave him Il
rhcquc t"l tortH-tive guimcIS, the three
extra to include the saddle and bride.
which he reasonably urged that it would
hc troublesome To take with him.
When he had eaten some dinner, and
was departing. said t" him: The
bargain is made now. for good or bad.
and if the horse dies tn-morIow. it is
my loss. :" Just tell me fairly. Nv hat l.
his fault -
"Fault. sir ;" replied the dealer.
''Numc at all. that | know of. Honor
bright if | knew anything against the
hnl,r. would tell it you." And hc de
parted
| determined to ride over at once to
Mr.. Plrw, the nearest farmer. and ask
him to give my horse board and l"dg-
ing tur Il day or two. till should he
able To get i man To act a> groom. and
make other necessary arrangements.
Dn my way. met my wife returning
iIom Il cottage where there was illness.
and asked her how she liked my new
purchase "What beauty '" she eN-
claimed. Il knew N"u would hc en-
ticcd int" cNtravagancc. What did You
give for ii -
"FurtI guimca~.
"RcHlIN, oh. what's its fault ,"
Mr. Plrw readily acccdcd to my re
quest.
''l"u have got good I'M to look at.
at last. anyhow" said the farmer. A
good price too. guess. Forty guinea>
/ You got that n>s for forty guimras
| What's his fault ,"
/ grew - tired at last OF that pcrptt-
ual question. that began almost Ia
/ wish that could find some hlrmiSh i'll
my bargain. if ii were only To be able
| to give Il satisfactory an>wcr: but real
/ l. the animal seemed Ia he perfect. his
sole undesirable quality being. that he
WAS quiet ih harness. that my wife
could drive him. and liked /" do 81.
! which iutcrtcrcd occasionally with my
rides Before had had him six weeks.
/ the squire offered Il hundred glIinca>
tnr him. and refused il. That one
fact i more eloquent than several
pages of culogi>tic description.
>IN months after had acquired this
cheap paragon. my wife Went to stay
with one of uur married daughters. VIII,
WAS settled neal Lincoln. and WAS t,
pay i shorter visit before she left. max
iug Il clergy mans week of ii. From
my parish To Lincoln. ii was seventy
miles. and an old college friend had Z;
living forty miles OF on the direct road
80 deter mined to kill two birds Will
one stone. hN riding to Lincoln i'll tN,
days. and spending the imtrrmcdiat,
night with Hughes. whom had Ion.
promised to look up. And very en-.
JOY able ride had. with all my luggag,
in the >addlc-hag> before me. All i
WAS not the railway. but the coach tha
DESTROYED the plrlSuIablc romance q
travelling. When the usual way of 90
lllS sil'bitl WIS WI T.. anu NJ
body WAS expected to carry much lug
gage with him. and there was IL goo,
chance of being robbed and murdered
and Il certainty of losing your WA,
every now and then. II journey ha,
some excitement about 1t. The cNcr
els, of riding is of itself both cmioNahl
and hcllth-giviug; To sit III the cornc
of the most comfortable carriage i
neither.
IIughr, received me with signs of Joy
admired my nag. asked his price, an,
made the usual remark on hearing it
Nv hats his fault :!
Not much. imagine" replied. -
have ridden him forty miles to-day, an
he is lis fresh and elastic in step aS whc
| started"
"And You are not Il trather-w weight.
added Hughes rather unnecessarily.
/ started again next morning. stop
ping halfway to bait. The host ad
, mircd my horse very much indeed
was quite surprised at the notice h
: took of it, and at last rather otfrndc,
for his manner impressed me with tn
idea that he thought it rather strang
, that | should he riding So good Il one.
Mr.. Higgins ought to see that 'rr
= animal. he remarked to his ho>tler
| my hearing. aS | sat 10y the coffee
: room window, eating some bread an
| cheese. $50 and ask him to ste
. Iound."
| was i'll the saddle again, and on Ill
point of starting, when this Mr.. lliggil
! made his appearance on Il cob.
"That's IL nice horse of youIs. tn
70 gentleman observed Il should like I
| have ii look ut him if you do not mind
I "Thank You, sir" | replied Stitfiy
my holSe Is not for sale, and ! hav
l. L. l.