AT LARGE 13 



soundest reasons why sensible men should abstain 

 from it ; but to preach is one thing, to practice 

 quite another ; and I have sedulously failed to 

 follow my own recommendations. If I had all 

 the money I have lost betting, deducting what I 

 have won, the balance in my favour — well, it is 

 not to be thought of without a sigh ! These 

 personal details I introduce merely to show that 

 assuredly I have no particular reason to love the 

 Ring ; but of all the innumerable cheques I have 

 received from many drawers I have never found a 

 single one that was not as good as a Bank of 

 England note — if the Judge, from the altitude of 

 his inspired knowledge, will excuse me for saying 

 so. And more than this, I have never, with one 

 exception — a man who went under some years 

 since, as he deserved to go — found a bookmaker 

 who was not scrupulously exact and honest. 

 There may be dishonest men in the Ring ; if so, 

 I have not come across them. The difficulty is to 

 win money, not to be paid when you win it ; and 

 a bookmaker's cheque, in my experience, is just 

 exactly what this curiously ill-informed Judge says 

 it is not. Let every man have the reputation that 

 is due to him, whether he be a bookmaker who 

 pays his debts, or a judge who talks indiscreetly 

 about things he does not understand. 



