“‘Indeed!  How long has that order been in force?’

“‘Fifty years, perhaps.’

“’How comes it, then, that there is such a thing as a corricolo in existence?’

“‘Nothing easier.  You know the story of Jeannot’s knife?’

“’To be sure I do; it is one of our national chronicles.  The blade had been changed fifteen times, and the handle fifteen times, but it was still the same knife.’

“’The case of the corricolo is exactly similar.  It is forbidden to build new ones, but it is not forbidden to put new wheels to old bodies, and new bodies on old wheels.  By these means the corricolo becomes immortal.’

“’I understand.  An old body and new wheels for me, if you please.  But the horses?  Do you mean to say that for thirty francs I shall have a pair of horses?’

“‘A superb pair, that will go like the wind.’

“‘What sort of horses?’

“‘Oh, dead ones, of course!’

“‘Dead ones!’

“‘Certainly.  At that price you could hardly expect any thing better.’

“’My dear M. Martin, be kind enough to explain.  I am travelling for my improvement, and information of all kinds is highly acceptable.’

“‘You are acquainted with the history of the horse, I suppose?’

“’The natural history?  Buffon’s?  Certainly.  The horse is, after the lion, the noblest of all the beasts.’

“’No, no; the philosophical history.  The different stages and vicissitudes in the existence of those noble quadrupeds.’

“’Oh yes! first the saddle, then a carriage or gig, thence to a stage-coach or omnibus, hackney-coach or cab, and finally—­to the knacker’s.’

“‘And from the knacker’s?’

“‘To the Elysian fields, I suppose.’

“‘No.  Not here, at least.  From the knacker’s they go to the corricoli.’

“‘How so?’

“’I will tell you.  At the Ponte della Maddalena, where horses are taken to be killed, there are always persons waiting, who, when a horse is brought, buy the hide and hoofs for thirty carlini, which is the price regulated by law.  Instead of killing the horse and skinning him, these persons take him with the skin on, and make the most of the time he yet has to live.  They are sure of getting the skin sooner or later.  And these are what I mean by dead horses.’

“‘But what can they possibly do with the unfortunate brutes?’

“‘They harness them to the corricoli.’

“’What! those with which I came from Salerno to Naples’—­

“‘Were the ghosts of horses; spectre steeds, in short.’

“‘But they galloped the whole way.’

“‘Why not? Les morts vont vite.’”