I give fifteen dollars fer him, an' if he wa'n't a dandy you needn't pay me a cent.

Crowbait wa'n't no name fer him.

He was stun blind on the off side, an' couldn't see anythin' in pertic'ler on the nigh side--couldn't get nigh 'nough, I reckon--an' had most ev'rythin' wrong with him that c'd ail a hoss; but I thought he was a thoroughbred.

I was 'bout seventeen year old then, an' was helpin' lock-tender on the Erie Canal, an' when the' wa'n't no boat goin' through I put in most o' my time cleanin' that hoss.

If he got through 'th less 'n six times a day he got off cheap, an' once I got up an' give him a little attention at night.