hbor as was Bunce, on
this occasion, to look upon Pippin. His joy found words of the most
honeyed description for his visiter, and his delight was truly
infectious. The lawyer was delighted too, but his satisfaction was of a
far different origin. He had now some prospect of getting back his
favorite steed--that fine animal, described by him elsewhere to the
pedler, as docile as the dog, and fleet as the deer. He had heard of the
safety of his horse, and his anger with the pedler had undergone some
abatement; but, with the consciousness of power common to inferior
minds, came a strong desire for its use. He knew that the pedler had
been guilty in a legal sense of no crime, and could only be liable in a
civil action for his breach of trust. But he suspected that the dealer
in wares was ignorant of the advantageous distinctions in morals which
the law had made, and consequently amused himself with playing upon the
fears of the offender. He put on a countenance of much commiseration,
and, drawing a long sigh, regretted the necessity which had brought him
to prepare the mind of his old friend for the last terrors of justice.

But Bunce was not a man easily frightened. As he phrased it himself, he
had been quite too long knocking about among men to be scared by
shadows, and replied stoutly--though really with some internal
misgivings--to the lachrymalities of the learned counsel. He gave him to
understand that, if he got into difficulty, he knew some other persons
whom his confessions would make uncomfortable; and hinted pretty
directly at certain practices of a certain professional gentleman,
which, though the pedler knew nothing of the technical significant might
yet come under the head of barratry, and so forth.

The lawyer was the more timid man of the two, and found it necessary to
pare down his potency. He soon found it profitable to let the matter
rest, and having made arrangements with the pedler for bringing suit for
damages against two of the neighboring farmers concerned in the
demolition of his wares--who, happening to be less guilty than their
accessaries, had ventured to remain in the country--Bunce found no
difficulty in making his way out of the prison. There had been no right
originally to detain him; but the consciousness of guilt, and some other
ugly misgivings, had so relaxed the nerves of the tradesman, that he had
never thought to inquire if his name were included in the warrant of
arrest. It is probabl