188 HOW I WON MY HANDICAP 



letting thee lose in t' last few strides. This makes 

 'em think thou can't stay. I know thou'rt as good 

 at 150 as 100, so I shall train thee and run thee at 

 Sheffield this Christmas. If thou can win there, we 

 can earn £1000 between us, and if thou can only 

 run into a place, we shall make £50 or £100 

 apiece ; but mind, we shall let t' cat out o' t' bag : 

 thou'll never get on a mark again after trying once." 

 Presently, Merling and Stemmerson advertised a 

 £40 handicap at Kenham, and I entered; then 

 came the big Sheffielder of £80, and down went my 

 name for that too. I lived very regular all this 

 time, went to bed early, and practised the distance 

 every day, till Locker said I was a '' level time " 

 man, and if I didn't w^in it would be a " fluke." 

 At last the start appeared : I got in at 7 yards in 

 the 130 at Newcastle, and my mark was 67 in 210 

 yards at Eyde Park. Locker was delighted : " Thou 

 can win 'em both in a walk, lad," he said, again and 

 again. Then the betting quotations were sent up 

 week after week, and I was at 5 to 1 long enough 

 at Sheffield. There wasn't much doing on the 130 

 yards race, so Locker said I might go there on the 

 Saturday and lose my first heat. He didn't lay out 

 a penny any way till we went into Alf Wihier's, 

 the Punch Bowl, on Sunday night. Somebody 

 presently asked my price, and, to my surprise, up 



