But I affected dullness, and
laughed in scorn.
'Seeing is believing,' I said. 'I doubt if you knows good horse
when you see one, my friend.'
'Oh, don't I?' he said, winking. 'Indeed!'
'I doubt it,' I answered stubbornly.
'Then come with me, and I will show you one,' he retorted,
discretion giving way to vain-glory. His wife and the others, I
saw, looked at him dumbfounded; but, without paying any heed to
them, he rose, took up a lanthorn, and, assuming an air of
peculiar wisdom, opened the door. 'Come with me,' he continued.
'I don't know a good horse when I see one, don't I? I know a
better than yours, at anyrate!'
I should not have been surprised if the other men had interfered;
but I suppose he was a leader among them, they did not, and in a
moment we were outside. Three paces through the darkness took us
to the stable, an offset at the back of the inn. My man twirled
the pin, and, leading the way in, raised his lanthorn. A horse
whinnied softly, and turned its bright, mild eyes on us--a
baldfaced chestnut, with white hairs in its tail and one white
stocking.
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