'And now, young man,' said the jockey, or whatever he was, turning to me with an arch leer, 'I suppose I may consider myself as the purchaser of this here animal, for the use and behoof of this young gentleman,' making a sign with his head towards the tall young man by his side. 'By no means,' said I, 'I am utterly unacquainted with either of you, and before parting with the horse I must be satisfied as to the respectability of the purchaser.' 'Oh! as to that matter,' said he, 'I have plenty of vouchers for my respectability about me;' and, thrusting his hand into his bosom below his waistcoat, he drew out a large bundle of notes. 'These are the kind of things,' said he, 'which vouch best for a man's respectability.' 'Not always,' said I; 'indeed, sometimes these kind of things need vouchers for themselves.' The man looked at me with a peculiar look. 'Do you mean to say that these notes are not sufficient notes?' said he, 'because if you do I shall take the liberty of thinking that you are not over civil, and when I thinks a person is not over and above civil I sometimes takes off my coat; and when my coat is off--.' 'You sometimes knock people down,' I added; 'well, whether you knock me down or not, I beg leave to tell you that I am a stranger in this fair, and that I shall part with the horse to nobody who has no better guarantee for his respectability than a roll of bank-notes, which may be good or not for what I know, who am not a judge of such things.' 'Oh! if you are a stranger here,' said the man, 'as I believe you are, never having seen you here before except last night, when I think I saw you above stairs by the glimmer of a candle--I say, if you are a stranger, you are quite right to be cautious; queer things being done in this fair, as nobody knows better than myself,' he added, with a leer; 'but I suppose if the landlord of the house vouches for me and my notes, you will have no objection to part with the horse to me?' 'None whatever,' said I, 'and in the meantime the horse can return to the stable.' Thereupon I delivered the horse to my friend the ostler. The landlord of the house, on being questioned by me as to the character and condition of my new acquaintance, informed me that he was a respectable horsedealer, and an intimate friend of his, whereupon the purchase was soon brought to a satisfactory conclusion. CHAPTER XXXVIII HIGH DUTCH