NEARLY 'DONE* BY A WELSHER 143 



It then flashed across Mr. Parker's mind that he had 

 been ' done,' a thing of all things he objected to. Thus 

 irate, he expressed himself in most emphatic terms, and 

 catching poor little ' Jones ' by the throat, said : 



'I'll kick you all round the ring, you vagabond!' a 

 threat which so terrified the fellow that he cried out 

 aloud for mercy, and promised he would tell him all, 

 if only he would let him go. 



' It was Quince laid you the bet,' explained the culprit, 

 when allowed to speak ; ' and he said if I could get it, 

 he would give me 5, for he felt sure you would know 

 him if he came for it himself/ 



Now, ' Quince ' was the nickname of a stable-boy, who 

 had won a lot of money over a horse so called in the 

 Goodwood Stakes. On this occasion Mr. Parker's action 

 was effective, for neither ' Jones ' nor ' Quince ' was seen 

 in the vicinity of the ring for the remainder of the week. 



He had, as most people have, a strong aversion to 

 being welshed ; not, I think, that he ever was so nearly 

 done as on the occasion named. But he hated the whole 

 tribe, and showed this detestation in a marked manner 

 when, at another time, one of these gentry had lost and 

 forgotten to pay his nephew, Mr. Thomas Upton, <15 the 

 week before, and when confronted by his creditor, repu- 

 diated all knowledge of the transaction. Mr. Parker was a 

 man of few words, and went straight to the fellow in the 

 ring at Goodwood, where he was betting in tens and fifties. 



' This gentleman,' said Parker to him, and pointing to 

 Mr. Upton, 'wants 15 of you for last week.' 



' Me ?' 



1 Yes, you.' 



1 Why, I don't know the man never saw him before ; 

 and was ill in bed all last week. He must, therefore, 

 have made a mistake, I assure you.' 



