114 SPORTING STORIES 



" He told me his story over a bottle of wine after dinner, 

 and a very melancholy story it was. I won't, however, 

 trouble you with it now. I will only say that he was a 

 man of good family and had been educated at Cambridge, 

 but through his own misconduct had come to grief. We 

 passed on to the Derby prospects. He had carefully 

 watched the movements of every horse, and he assured me 

 that Bloomsbury must win, giving excellent reasons for 

 his belief Well, as you know, Bloomsbury did win, and 

 I pulled off a very good thing indeed. And you may be 

 sure I did not forget my faithful tout. 



" Once more, and only once, was I tempted to ask his 

 advice and back his selection. That was at the Doncaster 

 Meeting of the same year. He gave me Charles XII. for 

 the Leger with the same positive assurance as before. 

 When the first two horses passed the judge's box the 

 general impression was that Euclid had won, and those 

 who were in a position to see declared that it was so. But, 

 to my gratification, I found that the judge had given it a 

 dead-heat between Euclid and Charles XII. I shall not 

 easily forget the intense excitement with which I watched 

 the running off of that dead-heat. It was a near thing, 

 but Charles XII. just did it, and once more I landed a 

 large stake — so large that I could afford to give my tout 

 a douceur of iJ^ioo. 



" After these three coups I decided that it would be rash 

 to tempt Fortune any more. With the money which I 

 won I went into business, and how I prospered some of 

 this company know well. I never saw my tout after 

 Charles XII.'s Leger, though I was several times both at 

 Doncaster and Epsom afterwards ; and perhaps had I met 

 him I should have been tempted to back his selection 

 once more. But I have never forgotten, and never shall 

 forget, that I owe my present comfortable position to a 

 tout's tips. 



This anecdote reminds me of another which shows that 

 occasionally a man may meet the reward of a kindly 

 action in an unexpected manner. A certain Captain 

 Osborn, having backed Running Rein for all he possessed, 

 and more to boot, found himself after the Derby day a 



