RACING ADVENTURERS. 265 



Club, waxed wealthy and fat over the game 

 which was oftenest played there, namely, French 

 hazard. In the course of the trial much in- 

 teresting information was elicited as to the 

 gambling practices which then prevailed ; in 

 the end a heavy verdict was returned against 

 the defenders and in favour of the men who 

 had the courage to sue them. The amount 

 given by the jury was ^^3,508, being treble 

 the sum which Smith had lost. If it had pleased 

 some of the noblemen and gentlemen who gave 

 evidence to play the part of plaintiff, the amount 

 of the verdict might easily have been quintupled, 

 so high and extensive did play run in the house 

 of the Bonds — " a place of bondage," as one 

 of the counsel wittily described it as being. 



Coming back to the doings of my hero, it 

 has to be stated with regard to Crockford that, 

 although at one period he was in possession 

 of a stud of race-horses, among the lot being 

 Sultan, which made some mark on the turf, 

 he never took a great amount of interest in the 

 noble animal, preferring to regard it, like many 

 other men, as an instrument of gambling ; but 

 the owner of the St. James' gambling-house was 

 well versed in turf chicanery of all kinds, and 

 knew in his day most of the prominent spirits 

 of the racing world. The year in which Crock- 

 ford saw his first Derby is not known, but in the 

 course of his lifetime it is said he saw the race 

 run on thirty-five consecutive occasions. Whether 

 that be correct or not, it is certain that the Derby 

 was a race in which he evinced great interest, and 

 he was reputed to have landed more than one 

 large stake on the winner of the Blue Ribbon. 



