74 MEMORIES OF MEN AND HORSES 



" ' We shall be out at half-past six to-morrow morning/ 

 said John Porter, in answer to my query on Thursday 

 afternoon, and so it was a case of five-thirty this morn- 

 ing for one like myself, some three miles distant from the 

 course. No great hardship in that, but, alack and alas, 

 my watch had stopped, and was the Boots to be trusted 

 to call me ? Often one kept waking and feeling sure it 

 must be late. The noise of certain revellers going to 

 bed was mistaken at first for that of men going on their 

 morning avocations. The very darkness might only be 

 fog for aught that I knew. The traffic sounded loud in 

 the streets. Was it past midnight, or was it long past 

 the hour at which I asked to be called ? Once or twice 

 a voyage of discovery along dim passages in fruitless 

 search of a clock recalled memories of Mr Pickwick, 

 who, when he went on a similar expedition to find his 

 watch, forgot his room, and became involved in terrible 

 consequences. Occasionally came an inclination to 

 sleep and trust in the Boots ; but no, it was no use ; 

 nor did it seem reasonable to alarm the household by 

 ringing. 



" Well, well, the best thing to do is to get up, be it late 

 or early, and having acted on that resolve, and prepared 

 for the fray, I, of course, hear at last a knock at the 

 door and am told it is half-past five. What a fool I 

 have been ! But no matter ; better too early than too 

 late, and so away to the race-course. It will kill time 

 to walk, and thus one passes along the streets with their 

 disfiguring tram lines, and meets men on their way to 

 work. The great city is already awakening to life, and 

 it is impossible to avoid a thought of the immense 

 business circle of which Manchester is the hub. 



"Such thoughts are not, however, suitable for 'The 



