HOW I WON MY HANDICAP 



TOLD BY THE WINNER 



It was a foot-racing handicap, run just after Christ- 

 mas at Sheffield, and how I came to win happened 

 in this wise. At eighteen I found myself still 

 living, say, at Stockton-on-Tees, on the borders of 

 Yorkshire, the town of my birth. My trade was 

 that of a wood-turner, and with but half my time 

 served. " Old Tubby " found me an unwilling 

 apprentice, who had not the least inclination for 

 work. Stockton, though only a little place, is noted 

 for sporting and games of all sorts — but particularly 

 for cricket. I played, of course, but they didn't 

 " reckon " much of me, except for fielding. " Sikey," 

 who was a moulder, and I, kept ferrets and dogs, 

 too, and on Sundays we used to go up the " Teeside " 

 after rabbits, or rats, or anything we could get. 

 Sometimes we stripped and had a " duck," and then 

 we ran on the bank barefoot. I could give him 

 half a score yards start in a field's length, and win 

 easily ; but often I didn't try to get up till close 



I N '5' 



