culiar in his tone--insinuating suspicion. It is certainly
difficult to judge of the motives which rule a person's conduct, but I
cannot help imagining that he was somewhat influenced in his behaviour on
that occasion, which was anything but friendly, by my having refused to
sell him the horses at a price less than that which I expected to get at
the fair; be this as it may, the question filled me with embarrassment,
and I bitterly repented not having at first been more explicit. Thereupon
the magistrate, in the same kind of tone, demanded to see my pocket-book.
I knew that to demur would be useless, and produced it, and forthwith
amongst two or three country notes, appeared the fourth which I had
received from the Horncastle dealer. The agent took it up and examined
it with attention. 'Well, is it a genuine note?' said the magistrate. 'I
am sorry to say that it is not,' said the agent; 'it is a forgery, like
the other three.' The magistrate shrugged his shoulders, as indeed did
several people in the room. 'A regular dealer in forged notes,' said a
person close behind me; 'who would have thought it?'

"Seeing matters begin to look so serious, I aroused myself and
endeavoured to speak in my own behalf, giving a candid account of the
manner in which I became possessed of the notes; but my explanation did
not appear to meet much credit: the magistrate, to whom I have in
particular alluded, asked why I had not at once stated the fact of my
having received a fourth note; and the agent, though in a very quiet tone
observed that he could not help thinking it somewhat strange that I
should have changed a note of so much value for a perfect stranger, even
supposing that he had purchased my horses, and had paid me their value in
hard cash; and I noticed that he laid a particular emphasis on the last
words. I might have observed that I was an inexperienced young man who
meaning no harm myself, suspected none in others, but I was confused,
stunned, and my tongue seemed to cleave to the roof of my mouth. The men
who had taken my horses to Horncastle, and for whom I had sent, as they
lived close at hand, now arrived, but the evidence which they could give
was anything but conclusive in my favour; they had seen me in company
with an individual at Horncastle, to whom by my orders they had delivered
certain horses, but they had seen no part of the money transaction; the
fellow, whether from design or not, having taken me aside in