THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



rally believed, to be descended somehow £rom the royal house 

 of Stuart. But his occupations could scarcely be called 

 roval-at all events, not in the modern acceptation ot that 

 word He was a deer-stealer, a dog-stealer, a pond-robber, 

 and a poacher in all ways, from a pheasant to a jack-snipe; 

 in fact, he would accommodate his employers m any way, 

 provided they paid him well. But Stuart's forte lay m the 

 difficult art of persuasion, of which the followmo- is one rathei 

 remarkable example :— .,, ^ 



' Won't you buy this capital dog of me ? said he to a young 

 man who told him he considered him too dear by at least two 



guineas. 



' Not at that price,' replied the young man. 



'Then' resumed Billy, ' you consider two guineas an object 

 when the ^^ maximum of excellence" is to be obtained, as you 

 o-entlemen calls it. Now, when you comes to take your 

 deo-ree, I'll tell you what they'll say to you: theyU tell you 

 that a little more studying would have put you m the tirst 

 class; but for want of that lUtle, you'll be nowhere. And so 



it turned out. , . 



Amono-st the ignoble sciences patronised by Stuart, and m 

 which he much desired to have initiated Frank Raby was the 

 very ignoble one of dog-fighting. Ignoble as it is, however, 

 our hero wished to witness it, and was conducted to the pit by 

 Stuart, the owner of one of the dogs, who had been the victor 

 in several battles, and had only been beaten once. His com- 

 petitor was also a formidable one, weighing thirty-six pounds, 

 which was two pounds less than Stuart's, and, as such, interior 

 to him in one respect. His game, however, was notorious, and 

 it was only shillings for choice-in other words, guineas to 

 pounds— between the two. 



I shall not disgust my readers with a description ot the 

 contest between two noble animals, whose services were in- 

 tended for far better purposes. Let it suffice to say that as it 

 was the first, so it was the last exhibition of this sort that 

 Frank Raby witnessed, and still he did not regret having 

 witnessed it. Exclusive of the courage displayed by the 

 do-s during a contest of upwards of half an hour, the means 

 taken by their handlers to increase that courage excited his 

 astonishment, if it did not produce pleasure. There is no 

 necessity for recapitulating them ; but it appeared that one 



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