go THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



Amongst the ignoble sciences patronised by Stuart, and 

 in which he much desired to have initiated Frank Raby, 

 was the very ignoble one of dog-fighting. Ignoble as it is, 

 however, our hero wished to witness it, and was conducted 

 to the pit by Stuart, the owner of one of the dogs, who 

 had been the victor in several battles, and had only been 

 beaten once. His competitor was also a formidable one, 

 weighing thirty-six pounds, which was two pounds less 

 than Stuart's, and, as such, inferior to him in one respect. 

 His game, however, was notorious, and it was only 

 shillings for choice in other words, guineas to pounds 

 between the two. 



I shall not disgust my readers with a description of the 

 contest between two noble animals, whose services were 

 intended for far better purposes. Let it suffice to say 

 that, as it was the first, so it was the last exhibition of 

 this sort that Frank Raby witnessed, and still he did 

 not regret having witnessed it. Exclusive of the courage 

 displayed by the dogs, during a contest of upwards of 

 half an hour, the means taken by their handlers to in- 

 crease that courage excited his astonishment, if it did not 

 produce pleasure. There is no necessity for recapitulating 

 them ; but it appeared that one index to the probable 

 result of the fight was the position of the animal's tail. 

 If erect, he was still undaunted : if inclined to droop, his 

 pluck was doubted, and the betting immediately turned 

 against him. The position of the tail, however, is the 

 general barometer of the dog's mettle. Witness Shak- 

 speare at a bear-fight : 



"Oft have I seen a hot, o'erweening cur, 

 Run back and bite, because he was withheld ; 

 Who, having suffered with the bear's fell paw, 

 Hath clapt his tail between his legs, and cried.'' 



There was another species of sporting, and one very 

 much in fashion in those days, in which Frank Raby was 

 initiated by Will Stuart the aristocratic one of cock- 

 fighting ; and aristocratic it may certainly be called, 

 confirming the truth of the assertion that, although the 

 vulgar borrow vices from the great, the great occasionally 

 condescend to borrow them, in their turn, from the 

 vulgar. It must, however, be admitted that, in point of 

 respectability if such a term can be allowed in this case 

 there is scarcely a comparison between the operations of 



