THE BETTING RING. 55 



CHAPTER III. 



THE BETTING RING. 



" Dost trifle in the Ring ? " 



Old Play. 



MOWEVER strange and interesting may be the 

 " subjects" which delight the eyes of the St. 

 George's student in the Anatomical Museum, the 

 lover of morbid anatomy may find an equally rich 

 field of contemplation if he will walk a little farther 

 down the lane at TattersalFs, and scan the alphabet 

 of faces who congregate in and round the Rooms, 

 He will there,, amid that hoarse and multifarious 

 miscellany of men, and under exteriors which are at 

 times unpromising, find as clear cutting wits as ever 

 nestled in a brain-pan, and he can only regret, as he 

 sits on that strange " bench of the grand-world 

 school," that men who were framed for better things 

 should be so Unitarian in their devotion to the odds. 

 The room, which bears silent witness to these cease- 

 less flirtations with the goddess Fortune, is 45 by 28 

 feet, and capable of holding about 400 persons. In 

 the middle of it is a sort of circular counter, round 

 which and at the fireplace the business is principally 

 transacted ; but in summer the room is nearly de- 

 serted, and speculation adjourns on to the steps and 

 green, outside, and holds communication with its less 

 favoured votaries through the iron bars of the gate. 

 At present, although the numbers fluctuate con- 



