328 GARRYOWEN 



" And what will you want to see him 

 for? " 



" Whisht now," said Mr Welsh, " and I'll tell 

 you. But you must swear never to spHt." 



" Oh, you may be easy on that." 



" Well, him and me is hand-in-glove. He 

 lets me into all the saycrits, and I give him ha'ff 

 profits on the winnin's. I'll tell him how me 

 bets he, d'you see? And afther the race, when 

 the jockeys come to be weighed in, he'll kibosh 

 the weights so that the horse that wins will be 

 disquahfied, if it suits me book. You tould me 

 you knew nothin' of racin's, so I can't 'xplain the 

 inthricacies of the thing to you, bub that's how 

 it Hes. Then I'll come back to the tub to find you, 

 and you and me will go and have a good dinner, 

 and there'll be a ten-pound note for you." 



" There's nothing iigainst the law in all that, 

 is there? " asked the cautious Mr Giveen. 



" Law! Of course there's not, for you and me. 

 If the clerk of the course chooses to earn an honest 

 penny by doin' what he chooses, it's his lookout; 

 no one can touch him, either, but the Jockey Club, 

 and they daren't sa}^ a word, for they^re all in it. 

 Why, man alive, what's the Jockey Club for but 

 to jockey the public out of their money? Afther 

 every big race they hold a meetin' and divide the 

 profits; as much as a hundred thousand some- 

 times is spHt up between them, the blackguyards ! 

 Where did you say you was stayin'? Swan's 

 Temp'rance Hotel? Well, I'll tell you what I'll 



