But I shall keep Wildfire, now I've got him; though I'd a
bid of a hundred and fifty for him the other day, from a man over at
Flitton- he's buying for Lord Cromleck- a fellow with a cast in his
eye, and a green waistcoat. But I mean to stick to Wildfire: I
shan't get a better at a fence in a hurry. The mare's got more
blood, but she's a bit too weak in the hindquarters.'
Bryce of course divined that Dunstan wanted to sell the horse,
and Dunstan knew that he divined it (horse-dealing is only one of many
human transactions carried on in this ingenious manner); and they both
considered that the bargain was in its first stage, when Bryce replied
ironically:
'I wonder at that now; I wonder you mean to keep him; for I never
heard of a man who didn't want to sell his horse getting a bid of half
as much again as the horse was worth. You'll be lucky if you get a
hundred.'
Keating rode up now, and the transaction became more complicated.
It ended in the purchase of the horse by Bryce for a hundred and
twenty, to be paid on the delivery of Wildfire, safe and sound, at the
Batherley stables. It did occur to Dunsey that it might be wise for
him to give up the day's hunting, proceed at once to Batherley, and,
having waited for Bryce's return, hire a horse to carry him home
with the money in his pocket. But the inclination for a run,
encouraged by confidence in his luck, and by a draught of brandy
from his pocket-pistol at the conclusion of the bargain, was not
easy to overcome, especially with a horse under him that would take
the fences to the admiration of the field.
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