264 Did you ever Drive a Jibber down to a Fight ? 



old ostler, who had invented the tale for some purpose or other best 

 known to himself. 



The horse bowled us down to Littlebury without a mistake, and we 

 pulled up in front of the inn, amidst a crowd of vehicles of every 

 description j and as the Capten threw his whip to an ostler who had 

 caught hold of the horse's head, he triumphantly turned round to me, 

 with, " It's no use a jibber trying it on with me, I never give him time 

 to begin." This inn was the head-quarters of the " fancy" on the pre- 

 sent occasion. The black man was staying in the house, and the fight 

 was to come off on a common some six or eight miles distant. 

 Every one of the motley group assembled in and about the inn 

 seemed to know the Capten, and the Capten seemed to know 

 every one of them. The black was a tremendous favourite ; his 

 blue-and-white colours were round every neck, and I fancy they 

 would have laid two to one on him -, and, according to the Capten, 

 who generally went with the swim, it was like coining money to 

 back him. I knew the black, but I had never seen the Australian ; 

 and although I fancied, like the rest, that Sambo must win, I bore 

 in mind the old motto that a battle's never won till it's lost, and 

 did not deem it prudent either to lay or take the odds till I saw the 

 men in the ring. 



After a scrambling breakfast or lunch, for it was eleven before 

 we sat down we all started for the common, and I dare say the 

 throng of vehicles standing about the inn had now swelled to above 

 a hundred. Our horse had been taken out to feed, and the dog- 

 cart stood in the yard. Whether he was rather disgusted at the 

 sharp practice of the early part of the morning, I cannot say, but, 

 certain it is, when we got up into the dog-cart again, the horse 

 began to show temper, and, much to the discomfiture of the Capten, 

 he refused to stir an inch. However, there was plenty of help at 

 hand, and we were shoved out into the road amidst the cheers of 

 the bystanders, with lots of advice how to manage the horse on the 

 road, all which, however, the Capten treated with supreme con- 

 tempt. This little incident did not improve his temper, and, as 

 there always appears to be a kind of secret sympathy between a 



