200 iRiMno IRecollections ant) XLxwt Stories 



curious thing happened. Mr. N icholl and some of his 

 friends had heard there was something wrong with 

 the Derby favourite, so they pretended they wanted 

 to back the horse, for no other reason than to keep 

 him at a short price, so that they could lay against 

 him at that price. Funnily enough, whatever part 

 of the ring the backers were, the amateur bookmakers 

 always happened to meet them, and accommodated 

 them with their price to all the money they liked to 

 back him for. At the finish Mr. N icholl and com- 

 pany found out they had made a mistake, but it was 

 too late. This happened on the Friday of the 

 Liverpool Spring Meeting. (It is quite unnecessary 

 to name the three amateurs, as they are living, and 

 known to many of my readers, but it will suffice if I 

 say they were, and always have been, known since 

 as the "Three Busy Bees".) On the Monday fol- 

 lowing, the Ouorn Hounds met at Widmerpool, just 

 half-way between Nottingham and Melton Mow- 

 bray. Colonel Forester had mounted me that day, 

 and who should I meet out but Billy Nicholl on a 

 very clever little gray horse I think he had bought 

 from Mr. Chaplin for ^50. I had not seen him 

 out hunting before, and was very much amused 

 with his get-up. He wore a hunting-cap (with his 

 hair cut to fit it), a green coat with brass buttons, 



