PARTNERS AND PLUNGERS 41 



mentioned in the dispatches of the Duke of Wellington. 

 Unfortunately, however, Mellish could not restrain his 

 passion for gambling, a vice which the Duke viewed with 

 the greatest abhorrence, and consequently the Colonel was 

 advised to throw up his post and return home. 



It was whilst he was in the Peninsula that Mellish made 

 one of the maddest bets in the annals of wagering. He 

 appeared one morning on a wretched-looking horse, which 

 made him the subject of unlimited chaff. " Why, the brute 

 wouldn't fetch a fiver," said one of his brother officers. 

 " I'll bet you a couple of ponies that I get forty-five pounds 

 for him," replied Mellish. 



The wager was promptly taken by half a dozen officers. 

 Mellish quietly booked all the bets, and then, putting spurs 

 to his charger, galloped straight for the enemy's nearest 

 picket. As soon as he was within range the French sharp- 

 shooters began to blaze at him; but, regardless of the bullets, 

 Mellish rode on till his horse was shot under him. Then, 

 waving his hand to the Frenchmen, he walked coolly back 

 to the British lines. 



Now the Government then allowed forty-five pounds 

 for every officer's horse killed in action. So Harry Mellish 

 won the wager, for which he had deliberately risked his life. 



Out of his splendid property, only one small farm was 

 left. There he lived quietly on his wife's income, forswore 

 betting and gambling, and devoted his attention to 

 scientific farming and the breeding of cattle and grey- 

 hounds. He died in 1817 ^^ the early age of 37. 



The greatest "plunger" since Harry Mellish's day was 

 the ill-fated Marquis of Hastings, who threw his life and 

 fortune away in fruitless attempts to break the ring. He 

 had the sublimest faith in his own judgment, and boasted 

 that he could make a certain ^^30,000 a year out of betting. 

 And at one time it looked as if the boast would be justified. 

 During five seasons (1863-7) he netted in stakes alone 

 £62,1 $S- He won ;^73,ooo over Lecturer's Cesarewitch. 

 But his judgment played him false over Hermit, whom he 

 imagined to be as rank an impostor as Kangaroo, the horse 

 that Harry Padwick sold to him for ;^i 3,000, and which 

 ended its career in a cab. The Marquis's losses over the 



