136 TALES OF THE TURF AND THE CHASE. 



papers under all those names. He at once acknowledged it, and 

 said he made a very tidy living by it. Seeing, I suppose, that I 

 was very much amused by his story, he went on : 



' I does it all quite respectable, and has my regular list and 

 subscribers. Trials is extry ; and I expects five per cent on 

 winnings.' Then growing confidential he added, ' This is how I 

 works it ; I takes the list of the horses entered for any big race 

 — the Derby and suchlike — and numbers them all down regular ; 

 then I gets out my " Weasel" paper and begins : No. i is a good 

 horse, and must be kept on the right side of the book ; No. 2 

 ought to about win ; No. 3 com.es from a dangerous stable ; 

 No. 4 we should recommend if he had not run so cowardly in the 

 Dewhurst Plate, however another course may suit him better ; 

 No. 5 is in the same stable as No. 3, and directly we know their 

 intentions will forward them ; No. 6 is about held safe by No. i ; 

 and so on. Then I goes on as "Viator," and takes the list " t'other" 

 way up, and begins from the end ; and next I begin as " Auceps" 

 from the middle, and works down ; and then as " The Boy round 

 the Corner," I begins in the middle, and works up — what a Cam- 

 bridge gent once called " permitations," and " combinations ;" 

 and that's how I does it, you see, sir. I don't say none mayn't 

 win, so I must be right ; and then if they wants more " partic- 

 lars," thems " extry.'" 



' But,' said I, ' how about the trials that are extra ?' 



' Well, sir,' he replied, ' you see I charges heavy fees for they. 

 They ain't altogether pleasant things to be caught at, and I 

 can't say as I holds with going near them, so I puts the fee at a 

 high figure so as to choke them off; for,' added he, putting on 

 an appearance of intense honesty, ' I don't like to rob people, and 

 always gives them a chance for their money. Besides, I has my 

 character' (he drew himself up in a dignified way) ' to keep up.' 



' But do you get paid on your clients' winnings ?' I asked. 



' O yes,' he replied ; ' pretty fair for that.' 



' But isn't your dodge seen through ?' said I. 



' Lor bless you, no, sir,' he said. ' I don't send no " dead 

 uns," and gives them all a chance ; and then when they wins 

 they are just pleased, and says what a wonderful chap " Viator" 

 is, always right. And then them that loses don't like to say so, 

 and either holds their tongues or " purtends" they've won ; so it 

 works that way.' 



'Your principal employers, I see, come from London and 

 Cambridge ; don't you get any from Oxford ?' I remarked. 



