
The rider sprang off as light as a cat and pulled the reins over the horse's head. Then he marched straight over to me and put them into my hand. Hold the mare for me, lad. And when I come back, I'll give you a golden guinea. A dark stranger leaves his magnificent...

'Hold the mare for me lad. And when I come back I'll give you a golden guinea.'

Addressing an otherwise unnamed "sir" a street urchin spins a lively yarn. The beggar fends off would-be horse thieves-who evaporate when soldiers appear aying the mare is highwayman Dick Turpin's Black Bless;.