A Good Day 55 



he said. *' What can I do for you ? I'll take 3 to 1— I'll 

 take 11 to 4 from you, sk — 5 to 1 Diana, and 6 to 1 

 Koseleaf ! " 



' I hesitated, not being sure of the phraseology I ought 

 to employ. What he meant by '' taking " I did not under- 

 stand. However, I could not go wrong if I made my 

 wants known in plain EngHsh, so I rephed, " I want to 

 back Mr. Manton's Koseleaf." 



' " Yes, sir. I'll lay you 6 to 1 — that's a good price. 

 Six hundreds — six ponies — six monkeys ? " he rejoined. 



' Wliat was a monkey ? I wondered. A pony, I had 

 gathered, was 25/. I had found that out in what I 

 flattered myself was rather a cunning fashion — W^enning- 

 ton had told me he had made 100/. by winning five 

 ponies and losing one ; but what was a monkey ? Zoo- 

 logically regarded, it was a smaller animal, and therefore, 

 I had no doubt, was a smaller sum. 



' " I think I'll have the monkeys," I somewhat timidly 

 rejoined. It struck me that he opened his eyes a bit, 

 and the bookmaker by the side of him looked at me 

 rather hard, I fancied, though I had no idea why. 

 However, he quietly observed, '' Yes, sir ; six monkeys 

 Eoseleaf. Thank you, sir." 



' As I returned to my seat I felt that I had an entirely 

 new interest in the game. I should, indeed, rather have 

 liked to know the precise sum I had speculated, but that 

 gave me no uneasiness, for I reflected again that if people 

 named sums of money after animals, there could not 

 reasonably be much difference if the animals were about 

 the same size; besides, W^ennington had been so ex- 

 traordinarily correct in his judgment that it seemed as 

 if he could not go wrong. I watched the horses canter 

 down to the post, and they were very soon sent on their 



