if you understand anything
about horses. No, it's not to be thought of for a moment. All the same,
how much might you be disposed to offer me for this beautiful young
horse of mine?'

The gipsy looked the horse over, and then he looked Toad over with equal
care, and looked at the horse again. 'Shillin' a leg,' he said briefly,
and turned away, continuing to smoke and try to stare the wide world out
of countenance.

'A shilling a leg?' cried Toad. 'If you please, I must take a little
time to work that out, and see just what it comes to.'

He climbed down off his horse, and left it to graze, and sat down by the
gipsy, and did sums on his fingers, and at last he said, 'A shilling a
leg? Why, that comes to exactly four shillings, and no more. O, no; I
could not think of accepting four shillings for this beautiful young
horse of mine.'

'Well,' said the gipsy, 'I'll tell you what I will do. I'll make it five
shillings, and that's three-and-sixpence more than the animal's worth.
And that's my last word.'

Then Toad sat and pondered long and deeply. For he was hungry and quite
penniless, and still some way--he knew not how far--from home, and
enemies might still be looking for him. To one in such a situation, five
shillings may very well appear a large sum of money. On the other hand,
it did not seem very much to get for a horse. But then, again, the horse
hadn't cost him anything; so whatever he got was all clear profit. At
last he said firmly, 'Look here, gipsy! I tell you what we will do; and
this is MY last word. You shall hand me over six shillings and sixpence,
cash down; and further, in addition thereto, you shall give me as much
breakfast as I can possibly eat, at one sitting of course, out of that
iron pot of yours that keeps sending forth such delicious and exciting
smells. In return, I will make over to you my spirited young horse, with
all the beautiful harness and trappings that are on him, freely thrown
in. If that's not good enough for you, say so, and I'll be getting on. I
know a man near here who's wanted this horse of mine for years.'

The gipsy grumbled frightfully, and declared if he did a few more deals
of that sort he'd be ruined. But in the end he lugged a dirty canvas bag
out of the depths of his trouser pocket, and counted out six shillings
and sixpence into Toad's paw. Then he disappeared into the caravan for
an instant, and returned with a large iron plate and a knife, fork,
and spoon. He tilt