210 The Best Fourteen-Hander in England. 



would buy the mare, he should have her with her engagements by 

 paying the trainer's expenses a little over 2O/. and the entrance. 

 His only desire was now to get the mare out of the trainer's hands. 

 I hardly liked to interfere ; for in the first place, I always avoided 

 meddling with other men's quarrels, and in the next place, I won- 

 dered, if it was such a good thing as Cox represented, why he did 

 not buy the mare himself; but I never liked to see any man put 

 upon, and it did seem here as if this young farmer was hardly 

 being fairly dealt by. I knew something of him, as well as of the 

 trainer; and although I felt certain that I stood very little chance 

 of winning the cup, even were the mare good enough, if I took 

 her out of the trainer's hands just before the race, I felt much 

 inclined to assist the young man. If the mare was only half 

 what Cox said she was, I thought her chances of winning were 

 very good indeed ; but then I knew how little reliance I could 

 place on his word. Altogether I was puzzled how to act, for 

 curious cards of this sort often turn up trumps. I thought, how- 

 ever, there could be no harm in hearing a little more about the 

 matter, so I went with Cox back again into the room where he had 

 just left the party sitting. 



The trainer, the young farmer, and a few roughish -looking cha- 

 racters sat at a table drinking, and at the time of our entrance the 

 dispute ran high. The trainer was sober and cool j the young man 

 half tipsy and passionate. He was vehemently declaring that he 

 was robbed, for he had backed the mare for the only io/. note he 

 possessed, and the trainer (who, I fancy, knew the mare to be 

 better than the young farmer thought her) appeared to be trying to 

 get her at his own price, of which there seemed every probability, 

 seeing that the young man had neither money nor friends. I could 

 see that the rest of the party, although they said but little, sided 

 with the trainer. 



Just as we stepped into the room, the young man declared he 

 would sell the mare to any one j and the trainer stated he was 

 quite willing to deliver her up to anybody who would pay his bill 

 and the entrance. He said almost as much as that he did not fancy 



