202 THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



any of his friends who were in the secret, and they only 

 consisted of three ; namely, Lord Dauntley, Hargrave, and 

 Goodall, his old Christchurch chums, who had laid out 

 some money on Rouge. 



On the morning of the race, an alteration had taken 

 place in the betting, in consequence of something having 

 transpired, and the odds stood thus : 12 to 1 against 

 Rouge, and 10 to 1 against Euphrosyne, or 6 to 1 against Mr. 

 Darkin's lot. Thus had Rouge gone down four points, 

 whilst Euphrosyne got up fifteen in the betting. 



But one thing surprised Frank Raby and his friends 

 more than the alteration in the betting ; and this was the 

 fact of the worst jockey being put upon Rouge, and the 

 best on the other filly, which was thus accounted for by 

 Mr. Trueman : 



" We must not throw away a chance, sir," said he to 

 our hero, "with Euphrosyne, although hers is a poor one ; 

 she is a difficult mare to ride, whereas Rouge wants no 

 riding at all, beyond keeping her straight and holding 

 her well together. She's as honest, as, I fear, the other is 

 a rogue." 



All this, however, was very satisfactorily explained 

 about an hour before the race, and in the following 

 manner : 



Our hero was accosted on the course by a person 

 of rather mean appearance, but having a good deal the 

 look and character of what is called a "leg," in the real 

 acceptation of that term. 



" Pray, sir," said he, " are you not Mr. Raby ? " 



" I am," he replied. 



" And the owner of two fillies in this race ? " 



Our hero paused, but his silence was thus interrupted 

 by the "leg": 



" I know all about them, sir," resumed he ; " they are 

 both your fillies, and you have been robbed I I saw them 

 tried, and I have no doubt but that Euphrosyne is five 

 pounds a better mare than Rouge. As for myself, I 

 stand to win upon her, and have laid long odds against 

 the other, which, in my opinion, is as big a jade as ever 

 started in a race." 



" And pray who are you 1 " asked our hero. 



" No matter who I am, sir," was the reply ; " you'll find 

 I have told you the truth." 



" Here is a pretty business," said Raby, as he galloped 



