"WON IN A WALK. 35 



pulled by — ha ! ha ! ha ! — by, we'll say, if you please," said Mr. 

 James Sloper, nodding familiarity at vacancy, " the man behind 

 the door, or round the corner, or anywhere except in a con- 

 spicuous place for spectacles to bring him within a short range 

 of the public gaze. Where so much uncertainty must exist," 

 resumed the chief of the Great Stable of the North, " what a 

 comfort it is to know that, by a little delicate working of the 

 oracle, a certainty may always be relied upon. When a puny, 

 snivelling, scrubby boy" — and by the familar nod which he 

 gave to mid-air, he seemed to be again addressing a phantom 

 friend — " I was told that the secret of life was to play for large 

 gains with small stakes. How much better, therefore, must be 

 that game which insures a good profit without the ghost of a risk ! 

 There's no improvement upon a profit without a risk. Hanky- 

 panky, and fiddle as ye may, the mind of man can go no 

 further!" 



Having arrived at this conclusion, Mr. James Sloper finished 

 his claret, and retired, with a stately tread, to the shades of his 

 dormitory. 



Puffy Doddles had long since courted " the sweet repose of 



Nature's soft nurse," but the soft nurse formed anything but a 



rightful claimant to the title on this particular occasion. Puffy 



Doddles tossed about wildly in the confined space allotted him 



as a shake-down in Sunshine's stable on the night previous to 



his starting for the great Newmarket Spring event. The legs 



and arms of Pobert Top's best lad whirled round and flew 



about in a way scarcely capable of description. Large beads of 



perspiration oozed upon his forehead, and, gathering together, 



trickled slowly in a continuous stream down his nose. His lips 



were compressed, and his teeth ground together with a harsh 



grating noise, not dissimilar to a glazier's diamond cutting 



through glass. 



"Won!" cried he, in a thick husky voice, "won in a 

 walk ! " 



c2 



