CARDSELLERS, TOUTS, AND AUGURS. 189 



dares to repudiate such a debt I Now that railroads 

 are established, their path from town to town has been 

 very much smoothed, and many of the " leaders of 

 the circuit" travel thousands of miles during the year 

 on the rails alone. When they walk, they generally 

 do so in gangs of twenty each, the women sometimes 

 clubbing together to hire a cart ; but the gentler sex 

 seem to step along quite as briskly as their compa- 

 nions, who have no reason to indorse the sentiment 

 which a sour rustic once made to us, viz., " that he 

 would sooner take four umbrellas, and be bound to 

 carry them all, than walk one female to the races. 33 

 They usually walk about eight miles before break- 

 fast, and then adjourn to some public-house, and re- 

 fresh themselves with bread and cheese ; and in this 

 fashion they jog on comfortably about five-and-twenty 

 miles per day. Luggage is not a thing they much 

 affect ; and, in fact, two shirts and a " shimmy " is 

 about the regulation package for a man and his wife, 

 though Fair Helen and Co/s wardrobe is, no doubt, 

 far more extensive. They affect butter more than 

 meat, and it is a singular fact that there is no sacri- 

 fice which poor people would not undergo rather than 

 give up butter. Beefsteaks is their next " vanity ;" 

 but the majority live pretty carefully, and lay by 

 something in store for the winter months. Such of 

 the men as follow the hounds are of course never 

 out of work, except during a frost ; but the remainder 

 are pretty hard set, and as steeple-chases are fast 

 passing away, they are forced to frequent fairs, vend 

 pencils, pincushions, and all such gimcracks. For 

 races themselves they care very little ; and one of 

 them told us that he never lett off his busiiurs to 

 look at any race, except it was the Derby, St. Leger, 

 or Ascot Cup. 



They look sadly down, in accordance with the old 

 orange-woman versus apple-woman principle, on the 

 other " professors" who attend the race-course. The 



