94 JOHN PORTER OF KINGSCLERE 



ground with the tip of his toe to prevent the 

 weights rising, and then jumped quickly off the 

 scale. This was a trick commonly practised by 

 jockeys who were overweight, and, as Clerks of 

 the Scale were not so particular in those days 

 as they are now, it generally served its purpose. 

 Doyle's chance of " getting even ** had now 

 arrived. After the race he followed Wells into 

 the weighing room, and saw him drop a small 

 cloth on the floor. Waiting until Wells had 

 got into the scale, Doyle approached with the 

 missing cloth in his hand, and said: "Here! 

 You weighed out with this, so you must weigh 

 in with it.** When he had received the cloth 

 Wells was unmistakably overweight, and was 

 still so when the 2 lb. allowed was put in 

 against him. 



I at once sent for Sir Joseph Hawley. When 

 he arrived the weighing process was gone through 

 again, with the same result. Admiral Rous 

 was now summoned. He ordered the 2 lb. 

 to be once more placed in the scale, and saw 

 Wells easily pull the extra weight. One of the 

 bystanders suggested that another 2 lb. should 

 be put on, but the Admiral forbade this being 

 done. "No, certainly not,** he said; "it 

 would not be fair to Sir Joseph Hawley to show 

 what weight the horse really carried.** Then 

 the Admiral, who was furious, cuffed Wells on 

 the back of the head, and shouted at him : " Get 



