BETTING. 257 



they must take anything we choose to offer, and we never have 

 to pay them. 9 In the serpent's coils with a vengeance ! But 

 though this was the avowed opinion of one man, and is pro- 

 bably the theory of many, it must, even to its upholders, be a 

 rotten and unsatisfactory state of things one which could cer- 

 tainly not exist were ready-money betting the legal rule instead 

 of the illegitimate exception. 



Of unwillingness or inability to part, there were many curious 

 stories told in the old days when TattersalFs was in Grosvenor 

 Place, and the gentlemen used, as a rule, to settle their own 

 accounts, instead of doing it, as at present, by deputy. Then 

 of course it was necessary to put in an appearance after a big 

 meeting, as the total absence of an account was sure to be 

 severely commented on, and to be able to carry it off with an 

 air was sometimes almost as good as having the bank-notes. 



' You owe me fifty, my lord,' said a nervous bookmaker, 

 sidling up to a notoriously unready settler. ' Quite right, I do,' 

 was the prompt response ; then, after a pause, * What the devil 

 are you waiting for?' ' For you to pay me, my lord.' 'Pay 

 you ! Haven't I told you you are quite right, and isn't that 

 enough for you ; go away, man, and don't bother me.' Retire- 

 ment of crestfallen creditor. 



'Now, Humby,' said another backer hailing from Short 

 Street, in the middle of one of the busiest Monday afternoons 

 of the whole year, * it's long since you and I had a regular 

 settlement of accounts, and it's quite time we did it.' So the 

 pair, mutually pleased with each other, sat down at one of the 

 small tables, and set to work comparing bets over many past 

 weeks of heavy and incessant wagering. 



Both proved to have kept admirably accurate record, the 

 books tallied in every respect, and when at the end of two 

 hours the work was concluded, and a balance declared in 

 favour of the bookmaker to the amount of 6o6/. ios. t he felt 

 that, though he had neglected the rest of the settling, yet that, 

 having got rid of an account so long outstanding, he had by no 

 means lost his day. Then, with a satisfied air, rose the backer, 



s 



