CHAPTER XVIII 



URING the ** eighties *' of last century 



there appeared on the ** Turf * a young 



sportsman who attracted a great deal of 



attention. He was known as " The 



Jubilee Plunger," though his correct patronymic was 



Ernest Benzon. 



In the genesis of his career he was possessed of 



very great wealth, the unrestricted handling of which 



devolved upon him when he attained his majority, 



which happened to be in the year when the somewhat 



austere Queen Victoria celebrated the jubilee of her 



protracted reign ; hence the first word of the term 



bestowed on young Benzon. 



It is hardly to be wondered at that his exchequer 



attracted the wolves and hyenas of the Turf and their 



jackal parasites. Poor Ernest soon proved himself 



to be a striking example of that paradoxical production 



the *' fly flat." He rated his own intellect very highly, 



but was no match for the many devices of crookdom, 



which were directed at his purse strings, despite the 



fact that he had enlisted the personal patronage of 



no less an expert in turf and other matters than Sir 



George Chetwynd, who undertook the oflice of guide, 



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