52 TALES OF THE TURF AND THE CHASE. 



gave his blind guide a very handsome fee, remarking at the same 

 time that it was the most extraordinary occurrence that had ever 

 happened to him. 



Space would fail us to enumerate half the wild pranks and 

 adventures of which Blind Jack was the hero. His name and 

 fame spread far and wide. There was nothing in the way of sport 

 that he did not become an adept at. He was a capital hand at 

 bowls, for instance, but he always demanded a bowl extra to 

 compensate for his blindness. He managed in this way: a friend 

 and confidant was stationed close to the jack and another mid- 

 way. They kept up a constant conversation, and from the sound 

 of their voices he guessed the distance. His dexterity at cards, 

 too, was wonderful. He seldom lost a game, and ' swells' used 

 out of curiosity to get him to play at their private houses. Pre- 

 sently, as Jack grew richer, he aspired to higher fields of sport. 

 He was a constant frequenter of the big meetings, and was a 

 most daring and successful speculator. His wonderful memory 

 enabled him to keep the name and performance of every winner 

 and every loser in his head, so that he was an excellent judge of 

 'public form.' He also at this time, 1738, increased his own stud, 

 and it was in this year that he rode his memorable match. The 

 terms of the match were three miles, owners up, for 100 guineas. 

 The betting was 20 to i against Metcalf, because it was thought 

 the shape of the course, a circular one, would be fatal to his 

 chance. They had to ride three times round the course to make 

 the three miles. There were posts at intervals, and at every one 

 of these Metcalf stationed a man with a bell. The sound of the 

 bells guided him and enabled him to keep the course. And the 

 end of it was that he rode in an easy winner. As a horsedealer, 

 Jack had few superiors in the craft, even among the proverbially 

 crafty ' Tykes,' and many stories are told of his 'cuteness in this 

 respect. 



We have seen Jack figuring as a swimmer, a cross-country 

 rider, a ' cocker,' a courser, a jockey, a bowler, a card-player, and 

 a horse-dealer, but we have not yet exhausted even his sporting 

 capabilities. He made himself a name also as a bruiser ! 

 Nature had intended him for a magnificent man. He stood 

 nearly six feet two inches in height, and was very finely made. 

 But his want of sight might well have been thought a fatal bar 

 to his ever attaining pugilistic laurels. He was not long, how- 

 ever, in giving evidence of his skill with his fists. There was 

 then at Knaresborough a man named John Bake. He was a 



