"Oh, dear, no!" "I may say then, sir, you considered it entirely pro bono publico?" "Quite so." "You have told the court, sir, that you purchased the horse of Doctor Gambado?" "I did so certainly." "You are sure he sold it to you?" "I am quite sure." "Pray, sir, did you ask him, if the horse was his that you bought?" "I asked him if he had any horse that would suit me." "What was his reply?" "To the best of my knowledge, it was that he had one in his stables that would suit me." "Now, sir, did he say, that _he had a horse_ in his stables that would suit you?" "I understood him so." "Pray, Mr. Deuce, be sure; because I should be sorry to convict you of a wilful and direct falsehood. I pray you to be sure. Did he say _he had a horse that would suit you_? or did he say, _there was a horse in his stables that would suit you_?" "It never struck me before,--he might certainly say, _there was a horse_; but I took him to mean, that _he had one_ that he could sell me." "Come, sir, I am very glad to find that you have a disposition to correct the evidence you have given for the prosecution. You have sufficient legal acumen to distinguish between a man saying, _there is such a horse_, and _I have such a horse_; the latter sentence would go to identify the ownership of the horse, or a declaration to that effect." "He might then say, _there was a horse in his stable_?" "Well, I think he did say so." "And you did not ask whether the horse was his or not?" "I did not." Let Mr. Samuel Ryecross be called. "You are the friend of the last witness,--are you not?" "I am." "You have known him for some years?" "I have." "Did you persuade him to consult Doctor Gambado?" "I did." "Upon what grounds?" "Because of his dyspeptic habits." "Did they not almost amount to monomania?" "I considered that at times they did." "Was he not very splenetic?" "Very." "I ask you, if he has not, in the neighbourhood of Blackheath, the character of being very litigious?" "He is very unpopular." "He quarrels with everybody?" "He makes himself conspicuous for finding fault with all transgressors of the law." "Is he not very angry?" "He is very easily provoked." "Now, sir, I think, when you proposed to consult Doctor Gambado, that he objected?" "He did so." "Upon what grounds?" "Upon grounds that would, if true, disqualify any medical man, for professional consistency." "What were these grounds?" "He said he was a mere horse dealer,--that he would give him advice to ride on horseback, and would sell him a horse to do so." "Did you believe his assertion?" "No. I not only doubted it; but stoutly contradicted it." "You had a better opinion of Doctor Gambado?" "I had." "Now, sir, did not your friend actually say to you, that he would have the fellow up, meaning Doctor Gambado, for being a horse dealer without a licence?" "He did." "Did he not go to the Doctor with that intent?"