, till at last I asked him what he meant? "What do I mean,"
said he, "you old rascal, why I mean to claim my purchase," and then he
swore so awfully, that scarcely knowing what I did I got down, and he
jumped on the animal and rode off as fast as he could.' 'I suppose he
was the fellow,' said I, 'whom I just now met upon a fine grey ass, which
he was beating with a cudgel.' 'I dare say he was,' said the old man, 'I
saw him beating her as he rode away, and I thought I should have died.'
'I never heard such a story,' said I; 'well, do you mean to submit to
such a piece of roguery quietly?' 'Oh, dear,' said the old man, 'what
can I do? I am seventy-nine years of age; I am bad on my feet, and
daren't go after him.' 'Shall I go?' said I; 'the fellow is a thief, and
any one has a right to stop him.' 'Oh, if you could but bring her again
to me,' said the old man, 'I would bless you to my dying day; but have a
care; I don't know but after all the law may say that she is his lawful
purchase. I asked six pounds for her, and he gave me six pounds.' 'Six
flints you mean,' said I; 'no, no, the law is not quite so bad as that
either; I know something about her, and am sure that she will never
sanction such a quibble. At all events, I'll ride after the fellow.'
Thereupon turning the horse round, I put him to his very best trot; I
rode nearly a mile without obtaining a glimpse of the fellow, and was
becoming apprehensive that he had escaped me by turning down some
by-path, two or three of which I had passed. Suddenly, however, on the
road making a slight turning, I perceived him right before me, moving at
a tolerably swift pace, having by this time probably overcome the
resistance of the animal. Putting my horse to a full gallop, I shouted
at the top of my voice, 'Get off that donkey, you rascal, and give her up
to me, or I'll ride you down.' The fellow hearing the thunder of the
horse's hoofs behind him, drew up on one side of the road. 'What do you
want?' said he, as I stopped my charger, now almost covered with sweat
and foam, close beside him. 'Do you want to rob me?' 'To rob you?' said
I. 'No! but to take from you that ass, of which you have just robbed its
owner.' 'I have robbed no man,' said the fellow; 'I just now purchased
it fairly of its master, and the law will give it to me; he asked six
pounds for it, and I gave him six pounds.' 'Six stones, you mean, you
rascal,' said I; 'get down, or my horse shall be up