AND OTHER SKETCHES 179 



give advice, I refrained from doing more than express 

 the hope that he would guess them aright. 



True to his word, as soon as we arrived at the track 

 he walked away to the nearest bookmaker and I, not be- 

 ing interested in the race, went up on the grand stand. 

 Immediately after the race was run I walked over to the 

 betting ring, and there found my newly-made acquaint- 

 ance standing in the pay line, and as I walked down that 

 way he beckoned to me and showed me his ticket, which 

 called for $210. He had backed a 20 to 1 shot and landed. 

 Congratulating him on his good fortune I left and saw no 

 more of him until after the finish of the second race, 

 when I noticed him again standing in line, waiting to 

 cash another ticket. He speedily joined me, showing a 

 roll of $1,000 which he had just drawn. His second in- 

 vestment had been $200 on a 4 to 1 shot. Thinking that 

 he would be more than satisfied, I asked him if he had 

 made up his mind to give them a rest. He replied: "No, 

 I feel this is my lucky day and I am going to play the 

 hand out." 



Wishing him good luck, I joined a party of friends and 

 saw no more of him until after the finish of the last race. 

 He then came over and insisted that I should join him 

 in a drive back to the hotel. This I did, and, inviting me 

 to his room, he unloaded his wealth, and there in good 

 bank notes was $6,785. Certainly, it was a case of per- 

 sistent good luck, and he was wise enough to leave for 

 home that night with his treasure. 



The following year, while standing in the rotunda of 

 the Grand Union Hotel at Saratoga, I met him again. 

 He then introduced me to his wife, a charming little lady 

 to whom he had been married about three months. He 

 also informed me that on his return to Boston he had 

 invested the money so rapidly gained in purchasing a 

 gents' furnishing store which was turning out a profit- 

 able investment, but, with a look of pride and satisfac- 

 tion on his face, he said his choicest investment of all 

 was the little lady to whom he had just introduced me. 

 On my expressing the hope that he was now satisfied to 



