FIDELITY OF INSPECTOR R . 249 



my pocket-book and purse ; which he kindly did. On my 

 return he informed me that he had been robbed, and with 

 mine had also lost his own purse, containing ;^I50 besides 



vouchers and other things still more valuable. Mr. R , 



a great friend of Mr. William Sadler's, was applied to in 

 hopes of recovering the lost property, and he promised to 

 do all he could to get it restored ; but said he was afraid 

 that everything except the notes would be destroyed before 

 coming into his hands. He appointed the same evening at ten 

 o'clock to meet us at the Lamb Hotel to give the result of 

 his inquiries. At the time named he appeared and told us 

 " that it was not in the possession of any of his men." We 

 then suggested that he might know others who might have 

 it, and expressed a hope that he would use his influence for 

 its recovery. He promised to do so, and carried out his 

 promise ; for on the next night he came again bringing the 

 missing books with the treasure absolutely intact. When 

 asked how much we were indebted to him for its restoration 

 he replied, " Nothing ; " and only when pressed would accept 

 two sovereigns to give to the men to drink our healths. But 

 neither for himself nor his associates through whose instru- 

 mentality the money had been obtained, would he accept a 



farthing. R 's end was unfortunately one his many 



friends in the sporting world had to deplore.^ 



^ Many people living will doubtless remember Mr. R , or, as he was 



commonly called, " Jack," as one of the genial spirits " wont to keep the table in 



a roar." He and his boon companion, the eccentric Mr. F C (the 



owner of Deception and other horses) who would never admit of a prefix to Jiis 

 name, used nightly to meet and indulge in singing comic and otherwise. But " a 



change came o'er the scene." I only once met poor R afterwards. He had 



then left the force, and had turned teetotaller and Methodist preacher. Strangely, 



about the same time, Mr. F C left the turf and took to a strictly 



religious life, A strange coincidence in the career of two roysterers, possibly 

 illustrating the adage, " our indiscretion sometimes serves us well," 



