AT LARGE 19 



a very small stake, but I had not at all expected 

 to win. 



" Why, it was a real good thing ! " he ex- 

 claimed ; " I knew it would win, and had a dash." 



" I don't think it was very much fancied 

 — in fact, I happen to know that the stable 

 did not back it at all," I humbly replied. 



" Don't you believe it !" he said ; " it couldn't be 

 beat. I was told about it by the fishmonger at 

 Bishop Stortford." 



Why the fishmonger at Bishop Stortford should 

 be supposed to know, I cannot tell ; but the trial 

 was right, the horse never won again, and if this 

 unlikely tipster continued to back it, it must 

 have cost him the equivalent of a great deal of 

 fish. 



I do not suppose that the excellent people who 

 desire to extinguish the racing world have the 

 least idea of the amount of employment it affords 

 and the extent to which it causes the circulation 

 of money. The foal is born. It provides occupa- 

 tion for the stud groom and his assistants ; part of 

 its life is passed in a box, which means work for 

 builders, bricklayers, carpenters, joiners, black- 

 smiths, &c. The veterinary surgeon may be 

 called in at any period of the animal's life. In 

 time it will want a little corn, and so the farmer 



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