they looked as if they had growed together, and made one
critter--half hoss, half man with a touch of the devil.

"Goodish was all up on eend by what he drank, and dashed
in and out of the crowd arter a fashion, that was quite
cautionary, callin' out, 'Here comes "the grave-digger."
Don't be skeered, if any of you get killed, here is the
hoss that will dig his grave for nothin'. Who'll run a
lick of a quarter of a mile, for a pint of rum. Will you
run?' said he, a spunkin' up to the Elder, 'come, let's
run, and whoever wins, shall go the treat.'

"The Elder smiled as sweet as sugar candy, but backed
out; he was too old, he said, now to run.

"'Will you swap hosses, old broad cloth then?' said the
other, 'because if you will, here's at you.'

"Steve took a squint at pony, to see whether that cat
would jump or no, but the cropt ears, the stump of a
tail, the rakish look of the horse, didn't jist altogether
convene to the taste or the sanctified habits of the
preacher. The word no, hung on his lips, like a wormy
apple, jist ready to drop the fust shake; but before it
let go, the great strength, the spryness, and the oncommon
obedience of pony to the bit, seemed to kinder balance
the objections; while the sartan and ontimely eend that
hung over his own mare, during the comin' winter, death
by starvation, turned the scale.