IN THE KING. 4 



on a Caulfield and Melbourne Cup. Twenty pounds to a 

 shilling, and sometimes more, could be obtained about 

 a double at a Saturday suburban meeting. Thousands 

 of pounds passed through the hands of these double 

 event layers, and some of the big men in the ring at 

 last found it necessary to start " Silver-books,^' as they 

 are termed, to oblige their humbler customers. I well 

 recollect backing a winning double with Joe Phillips, 

 of Market Street. " Joseph '' kept the usual tobacco- 

 nist's shop, and at the rear of it you could loll back in 

 a chair and allow the barber to operate on your chin. 

 Shaving has a soothing effect if the razor is not like a 

 hand-saw, and puts one into a contemplative frame of 

 mind. It must have been the extra good shave that 

 gave me luck ; for as I went out of the room into the 

 shop, I asked '^ Joe '^ what he would lay Wild Rose 

 and Highborn for the Newmarket Handicap and Aus- 

 tralian Cup. "Four hundred to one are the odds,^' 

 he responded, and I put down my coin, and he booked 

 the bet. 



It came off, and the very next morning the ceiling 

 of Joseph's shop fell in. When I got into town and 

 went to collect my money, 1 found the merry bookie 

 up to his knees in debris. 



"No wonder the roof fell in," said Joe, when he 

 saw me smiling in the doorway. '^ Fancy you backing 

 a winning double." 



Joe Phillips always swears it was this remarkable 



