rt to 've hed the law on him," declared Mrs. Bixbee, now fully
converted. "The old scamp!"

"Wa'al," was the reply, "I gen'all prefer to settle out of court, an' in
this partic'lar case, while I might 'a' ben willin' t' admit that I hed
ben did up, I didn't feel much like swearin' to it. I reckoned the time
'd come when mebbe I'd git the laugh on the deakin, an' it did, an'
we're putty well settled now in full."

"You mean this last pufformance?" asked Mrs. Bixbee. "I wish you'd quit
beatin' about the bush, an' tell me the hull story."

"Wa'al, it's like this, then, if you _will_ hev it. I was over to
Whiteboro a while ago on a little matter of worldly bus'nis, an' I seen
a couple of fellers halter-exercisin' a hoss in the tavern yard. I stood
'round a spell watchin' 'em, an' when he come to a standstill I went an'
looked him over, an' I liked his looks fust rate.

"'Fer sale?' I says.

"'Wa'al,' says the chap that was leadin' him, 'I never see the hoss that
wa'n't if the price was right.'

"'Your'n?' I says.

"'Mine an' his'n,' he says, noddin' his head at the other feller.

"'What ye askin' fer him?' I says.

"'One-fifty,' he says.

"I looked him all over agin putty careful, an' once or twice I kind o'
shook my head 's if I didn't quite like what I seen, an' when I got
through I sort o' half turned away without sayin' anythin', 's if I'd
seen enough.

"'The' ain't a scratch ner a pimple on him,' says the feller, kind o'
resentin' my looks. 'He's sound an' kind, an' 'll stand without
hitchin', an' a lady c'n drive him 's well 's a man."'

"'I ain't got anythin' agin him,' I says, 'an' prob'ly that's all true,
ev'ry word on't; but one-fifty's a consid'able price fer a hoss these
days. I hain't no pressin' use fer another hoss, an', in fact,' I says,
'I've got one or two fer sale myself.'

"'He's wuth two hunderd jest as he stands,' the feller says. 'He hain't
had no trainin', an' he c'n draw two men in a road-wagin better'n
fifty.'

"Wa'al, the more I looked at him the better I liked him, but I only
says, 'Jes' so, jes' so, he may be wuth the money, but jest as I'm fixed
now he ain't wuth it to _me_, an' I hain't got that much money with me
if he was,' I says. The other feller hadn't said nothin' up to that
time, an' he broke in now. 'I s'pose you'd take him fer a gift, wouldn't
ye?' he says, kind o' sneerin'.

"'Wa'al, yes,' I says, 'I dunno but I would if you'd throw in a pound of
tea an' a halter.