CHARRON AS A PUPIL 



door and walk in myself. Doing so I came into a 

 room before Tim Sullivan and " Battery Dan." 



" In trouble again, Tod ? " began '' Big Tim." " We 

 can't help you this time, I'm afraid ; it's all up with 

 you." 



" How much money have you. Tod ? " asked 

 " Battery Dan." " Are you going to the race-track 

 to-day ? " 



I told him I had about 15 dollars and free entry 

 and he asked me how much it cost to pay the usual 

 entrance. \Vlien he learned from Tim that it was 

 3 dollars, " Dan " told me to give him the 3 dollars 

 and get out. That was the joke he played on me 

 and I never heard another word about it. America 

 can be, after all, a " free " country ! 



Although I have mentioned a few little details about 

 betting, laying horses never had any real fascination 

 for me, and, strictly speaking, when I was not riding, 

 the big wagers made were more in emphasis of an 

 opinion than a gamble. The proof of this is provided 

 by the semi-refusal to support animals which I did not 

 believe to be at the top of their form — Rose de Mai, 

 for instance, already alluded to. By the way, when the 

 Comte de St Phalle left Charron as his trainer, he did 

 nothing to speak of, although he had, in one season 

 v/ith Charron, won 480,000 fr. in stakes. 



Certainly Charron was one of the quickest pupils 

 possible to find ; he could understand straight away 

 what he had to do, in respect of adapting himself just 

 as well to the horse as he had done to the bicycle and 

 automobile. He has now a nice place out at Maisons 

 Laffitte and it is to be presumed that he will cling to 

 horses for the remainder of his life, although he has 

 such important business interests of other kinds. 

 The picture in the book shows him taking his first 

 s 273 



