246 A TRIAL FOR MR. MERRY 



secure rooms at a hotel, or to take a house for the race- 

 week, and to have dinner or whatever was wanted com- 

 fortably ready for the others on their arrival. But Tass 

 had more taste for the horses, and was more at home 

 with them. He was generally to be found in the stable 

 with the trainer, to the great discomfiture of the ' touts ' ; 

 for he always mercilessly thrashed them when caught 

 spying on the horses at Eussley or anywhere else. Still, 

 he would often be with Mr. Merry and Buchanan on the 

 racecourse, and spend the evening with them at their 

 lodgings evenings which, I am told, were often ex- 

 tremely lively, especially when the female element was 

 present to assist the festivities. It is to him that I am 

 indebted for much that I have said as to his patron's 

 doings in the cockpit. 



Of these two satellites of Mr. Merry, Buchanan was 

 the less worthy of the confidence he enjoyed. I under- 

 stand that, for one thing, he often betted more than he 

 was prepared to pay ; and at the end of the week had to 

 anticipate his expectations, or borrow of his friend, to 

 prevent the gentlemen of the ring making unpleasant 

 remarks in their primitive language, as most assuredly 

 they would have done, if everything had not been 

 attended to at the Corner with business-like promptitude. 

 An amalgamation of his own with Mr. Merry's accounts 

 often assisted him after a bad week ; the difference, 

 whatever it may have been, being left as a rule to be 

 settled with his friend after. But complication of accounts 

 soon led to disputes, and the intimate friendship, extend- 

 ing over many years, ended in a quarrel over money- 

 matters ; and finally in a lawsuit, in which Buchanan 

 claimed money which he alleged he had paid on Mr. 

 Merry's behalf, and also payment for services done and 

 performed at his request. 



