282 EACECOURSE AND COVERT SIDE. 



the inequalities in the ground afford capital 

 views from various parts, and as some of us 

 stroll down to the post to take stock of the 

 two-year-olds, we see what is to most of us a 

 novel sight. '' Qui vent un cheval ? Qui veut 

 Musette II. f Qui veut Petal f Sept contre 

 Louis d'Or ! Cinq contre Petal I Que veut un 

 cheval'^ Gagnant ou place I " These are offers 

 made in a shrill voice, and coming nearer we 

 see that the "bookmaker" is a respectably- 

 dressed old lady, with black bonnet and gown, 

 spectacles, and a professional satchel by her 

 side. There she is, this remarkable old dame, 

 laying the odds all round in the most business- 

 like manner ; and a little beyond is a younger 

 woman, who may be her daughter, engaged in 

 the same occupation. To me this is certainly a 

 novel experience, and I lay out a napoleon on 

 the English filly with a very unusual feeling of 

 half-hoping I may not win the old lady's money 

 — as happens in the end, for the boy on Petal 

 finishes in the middle of the ruck, and one of 

 the Count de Lagrange's lands the comfortable 

 odds of 12 to 1. 



After this the rain came down as if it had 

 not rained before this year, and gay toilettes 

 suffered, for the canvas roofs of the stands, fine 

 weather structures, were altogether insufficient 



