o be cautious; queer things being done in this fair, as nobody
knows better than myself," he added with a leer; "but I suppose if the
landlord of the house vouches for me and my notes, you will have no
objection to part with the horse to me?" "None whatever," said I, "and
in the meantime the horse can return to the stable."

Thereupon I delivered the horse to my friend the ostler.

The landlord of the house on being questioned by me as to the character
and condition of my new acquaintance, informed me that he was a
respectable horsedealer, and an intimate friend of his, whereupon the
purchase was soon brought to a satisfactory conclusion.

CHAPTER XXXVIII

High Dutch.

It was evening: and myself and the two acquaintances I had made in the
fair--namely, the jockey and the tall foreigner--sat in a large upstairs
room, which looked into a court; we had dined with several people
connected with the fair at a long _table d'hote_; they had now departed,
and we sat at a small side-table with wine and a candle before us; both
my companions had pipes in their mouths--the jockey a common pipe, and
the foreigner, one, the syphon of which, made of some kind of wood, was
at least six feet long, and the bowl of which, made of a white kind of
substance like porcelain, and capable of holding nearly an ounce of
tobacco, rested on the ground. The jockey frequently emptied and
replenished his glass; the foreigner sometimes raised his to his lips,
for no other purpose seemingly than to moisten them, as he never drained
his glass. As for myself, though I did not smoke, I had a glass before
me, from which I sometimes took a sip. The room, notwithstanding the
window was flung open, was in general so filled with smoke, chiefly that
which was drawn from the huge bowl of the foreigner, that my companions
and I were frequently concealed from each other's eyes. The
conversation, which related entirely to the events of the fair, was
carried on by the jockey and myself, the foreigner, who appeared to
understand the greater part of what we said, occasionally putting in a
few observations in broken English. At length the jockey, after the
other had made some ineffectual attempts to express something
intelligibly which he wished to say, observed, "Isn't it a pity that so
fine a fellow as meinheer, and so clever a fellow too, as I believe him
to be, is not a better master of our language?"

"Is the gentleman a German?" said I; "if so,