"That's a good-looking mare," the man remarked.
"And she is better than she looks," Jack answered. "But she has thrown a shoe and gone lame."
"I'll trade even and give you a sound horse," the man proposed.
"What is your name and where do you live?" Jack inquired.
"My name is Paulding and I live at Tarrytown in the neutral territory."
"I hope that you like horses."
"You can judge of that by the look of this one. You will observe that he is well fed and groomed."
"And your own look is that of a good master," said Jack, as he examined the teeth and legs of the gelding. "Pardon me for asking. I have grown fond of the mare. She must have a good master."
"I accepted his offer not knowing that a third party was looking on and laying a deeper plan than either of us were able to penetrate," Jack used to say of that deal.
He approached the little house in which the Commander-in-Chief was quartered with a feeling of dread, fearing the effect of late developments on his spirit.