by it?' 'How!' said he, drawing
up his head with a very consequential look, and speaking with a very
haughty tone, 'what do you mean?' We looked at each other full in the
face; after a few moments the muscles of the mouth of him of the hungry
look began to move violently, the face was puckered into innumerable
wrinkles, and the eyes became half closed. 'Well,' said I, 'have you
ever seen me before? I suppose you are asking yourself that question.'
'Excuse me, sir,' said he, dropping his lofty look, and speaking in a
very subdued and civil tone, 'I have never had the honour of seeing you
before, that is'--said he, slightly glancing at me again, and again
moving the muscles of his mouth--'no, I have never seen you before,' he
added, making me a low bow, 'I have never had that pleasure; my business
with you at present is to inquire the lowest price you are willing to
take for this horse. My agent here informs me that you ask one hundred
and fifty pounds, which I can't think of giving; the horse is a showy
horse, but look, my dear sir, he has a defect here, and there in his near
fore-leg I observe something which looks very like a splint--yes, upon my
credit,' said he, touching the animal, 'he has a splint, or something
which will end in one. A hundred and fifty pounds, sir! What could have
induced you ever to ask anything like that for this animal? I protest
that, in my time, I have frequently bought a better for ---. Who are
you, sir? I am in treaty for this horse,' said he to a man who had come
up whilst he was talking, and was now looking into the horse's mouth.
'Who am I?' said the man, still looking into the horse's mouth--'who am
I? his lordship asks me. Ah, I see, close on five,' said he, releasing
the horse's jaws, and looking at me. This new comer was a thin,
wiry-made individual, with wiry curling brown hair; his face was dark,
and wore an arch and somewhat roguish expression; upon one of his eyes
was a kind of speck or beam; he might be about forty, wore a green jockey
coat, and held in his hand a black riding-whip, with a knob of silver
wire. As I gazed upon his countenance it brought powerfully to my mind
the face which, by the light of the candle, I had seen staring over me on
the preceding night, when lying in bed and half asleep. Close beside
him, and seemingly in his company, stood an exceedingly tall figure, that
of a youth, seemingly about one-and-twenty, dressed in a handsome
riding-dress,