"Did the Doctor give the price of the horse to the gentleman, or did you?" "I did,--the Doctor asked me what I had said was the price of the horse, and I told him,--and I told the gentleman I would not take one guinea less for him than ninety guineas." "Then, really and truly, you took the money for your own horse, kept it, and did not give the Doctor a farthing?" "I gave him nothing but 'Thank you, Doctor, for introducing to me a customer.'" "Had the Doctor seen the horse before?" "Frequently, and admired him for the strength of his limbs, and for his proportions." "Do you remember what he said, when he brought the gentleman into your or his yard?" "Yes. 'John, I've brought a customer.'" "You knew what that meant?" "Of course I did, and I led out the brown horse myself, and paced him, sold him, took the money; the cheque is, I suppose, in court: it was written for me, and I had no idea the horse was sold by anybody but me, to whom it belonged." At this stage of the proceedings the solicitor for the prosecution intimated that his client wished to withdraw his case. Serjeant Sharpe said, "He hoped his Honour would direct a verdict for the defendant, his client; and that the world would see what a shameful action it had been. He told the solicitor for the prosecution that he was glad that his client felt ashamed of himself. He could never make him amends for what he had done; that it was disgraceful in the extreme to seek the advice of so good a man, and to treat him in the way he had done. He was quite sure that he would shortly have an increase of his malady, and that even his friend, Mr. Ryecross, would no longer pity him." The judge dismissed the case, with a high compliment to Doctor Gambado, and with full costs to be paid into court by Mr. Deuce. This action had some good effect upon this unhappy man, though it did not cure him of hypochondriacism. He rode out on horseback--on his new horse;--but whenever that horse came to the sign of the Red Cross, on Blackheath, directly opposite the four cross ways, he would lift up his nose, stand stockstill, and as if he would have his rider see the cross, and think upon it, he would not be persuaded to move. In vain did the lawyer tug at him, chuck his bridle, kick his sides, and use the most violent gesticulations to get him on. Whether he had a _nose_ for the stables, or had been accustomed to Blackheath Red Cross on former days, he certainly had a nose, and until some one gently led him from the spot he would never be compelled to leave it. So he went by the name of _Old Deuce's Horse_, or, _The Horse with a Nose_. Hast thou a nose to smell a rat? Beware thou get not tit for tat. 'Tis better far to keep thy nose, Than have it split by angry foes. Avoiding strife, go, follow good, No harm will reach thee in such mood. CHAPTER XV. _Me, my Wife, and Daughter._