lack dress with a good deal of white lace, and a
white lace cap. She was then Madame Otto Goldschmidt, living at the
Wynd's Point on the Herefordshire Beacon of the Malvern Range, and had
long been known as the "Swedish Nightingale."

CHAPTER XI.

DEALERS--LUCK MONEY--FAIRS--SALES--EFFECT OF CLIMATE ON CATTLE AND
SHEEP--AGRICULTURAL SHOWS.

"I'll give thrice so much land
To any well-deserving friend;
But in the way of bargain, mark ye me,
I'll cavil on the ninth part of a hair."
--_1 Henry IV_.

Dealers of all kinds were much more frequent callers at farm-houses in
the early days of my farming, than latterly when auction sales, to
some extent, superseded private negotiations, but the horse-dealer
remained constant, because comparatively few horses were offered by
auction. The horse-dealers appeared to conform to an understanding
that it was a breach of etiquette to exceed certain well-marked
boundaries in their search for purchases, or to interfere in each
other's business. This principle was carried so far as to prevent
dealers from one of these "countries" purchasing a horse at a fair
coming from another dealer's "country," and the understanding of
course minimized competition likely to raise the price. The dealers
however I think, gave fair values, governed for the most part by the
prices obtainable by them in the large towns.

Most of my horses, when for sale, were bought by a man in a
considerable way of business, a well-known breeder, too, of shire
horses, taking many prizes at the leading shows. A handsome man with a
presence, and an excellent judge, shrewd but straight. He would ask
the price after examining the animal, and make an offer which he would
very seldom exceed if refused at first; but he would spend some time
in conversation, apparently quite irrelevant and very amusing, though
always returning to the point at intervals with arguments in favour of
the acceptance of his bid. He was so genial and pleasant and such good
company, for no man was ever better acquainted with the ways of the
world, that he very rarely, I think, left the premises without a deal,
though sometimes he was in his gig before the final bargain was
struck. It is a custom of the trade for the seller to give something
back to the buyer by way of "luck money," and the last time I did
business with him I refused to give more than one shilling each on two