rly enough, I was told the same
things by a wild blacksmith in Ireland. Now tell me, do you bewitch
horses in this way?'

'I?' said the jockey; 'mercy upon us! I wouldn't do such things for a
hatful of money. No, no, preserve me from live eels and hocussing! And
now let me ask you, how you would spirit a horse out of a field?'

'How would I spirit a horse out of a field?'

'Yes! supposing you were down in the world, and had determined on taking
up the horse-stealing line of business.'

'Why I should--. But I tell you what, friend, I see you are trying to
pump me, and I tell you plainly that I will hear something from you with
respect to your art, before I tell you anything more. Now, how would you
whisper a horse out of a field, provided you were down in the world, and
so forth?'

'Ah, ah, I see you are up to game, Mr. Romany: however, I am a gentleman
in mind, if not by birth, and I scorn to do the unhandsome thing to
anybody who has dealt fairly towards me. Now, you told me something I
didn't know, and I'll tell you something which perhaps you do know. I
whispers a horse out of a field in this way: I have a mare in my stable;
well, in the early season of the year I goes into my stable--Well, I puts
the sponge into a small bottle which I keeps corked. I takes my bottle
in my hand, and goes into a field, suppose by night, where there is a
very fine stag horse. I manage with great difficulty to get within ten
yards of the horse, who stands staring at me just ready to run away. I
then uncorks my bottle, presses my fore-finger to the sponge, and holds
it out to the horse; the horse gives a sniff, then a start, and comes
nearer. I corks up my bottle and puts it into my pocket. My business is
done, for the next two hours the horse would follow me anywhere--the
difficulty, indeed, would be to get rid of him. Now, is that your way of
doing business?'

'My way of doing business? Mercy upon us! I wouldn't steal a horse in
that way, or, indeed, in any way, for all the money in the world:
however, let me tell you, for your comfort, that a trick somewhat similar
is described in the history of Herodotus.'

'In the history of Herod's ass!' said the jockey; 'well, if I did write a
book, it should be about something more genteel than a dickey.'

'I did not say Herod's ass!' said I, 'but Herodotus, a very genteel
writer, I assure you, who wrote a history about very genteel people, in a
language no less genteel t