Victor Carrington stood at a little distance from him, contemplating
him in silence for some minutes.
"Have you ever noticed that spot?" asked Victor, presently, pointing to
the white patch inside the animal's hock.
"Well, sir, one can't help noticing it when one knows where to look for
it, though p'raps a stranger mightn't see it. That there spot's a kind
of a blemish, you see, to my mind; for, if it wasn't for that, the
brute wouldn't have a white hair about him."
"That's just what I've been thinking," answered Victor. "Now, my friend
is just the sort of man to turn up his nose at a horse with anything in
the way of a blemish about him, especially if he sees it before he has
tried the animal, and found out his merits. But I've hit upon a plan
for getting the better of him, and I want you to carry it out for me."
"I'm your man, guv'nor, whatever it is."
The surgeon produced a phial from his pocket, and with the phial a
small painters' brush.
"In this bottle there's a brown dye," he said; "and I want you to paint
the white spot with that brown dye after you've groomed the 'Buffalo,'
so that whenever my friend comes to claim the horse the brute may be
ready for him. You must apply the dye three or four times, at short
intervals. It's a pretty fast one, and it'll take a good many pails of
water to wash it out."
Jim Hawkins laughed heartily at the idea of this manoeuvre.
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