"My trade is gone and I want work with the horses. There must surely be a place on the estate of so great a prince."
"There is, but he wants good men, the very best."
"Let him try me."
"I'll try you now."
The hussar leaped from his horse and asked John to get into the saddle. John had noticed that it was a big brute with a red eye, and every other indication of a wicked temper, but in his earlier youth he had spent a year on a great ranch belonging to his uncle in Montana, and the cowboys had taught him everything. He was quite aware that a dramatic effect would be useful to him now, and he decided to temporize a little in order that the culmination might be greater.
"It has been my business," he said, "to try and sell horses, not to ride them."
Both officers laughed derisively.
"Prince Karl of Auersperg likes bold men around him," said the one who had dismounted, "and he would not care for a hostler who was afraid of his own horses."
John, despite the fact that he had invited it, was stung somewhat by the taunt.
"While I said it was not my business to ride horses I didn't say I couldn't ride them," he replied.