NEWMARKET 203 



any women at all about in the streets, with the 

 exception of the few who keep the fruit and vege- 

 table stalls in the main street. 



I have mentioned previously the wonderful 

 edibles offered for sale in the town ; but those 

 brought on to the Heath are stranger still, the chief 

 of them consisting of acid-drops and butter-scotch. 

 You meet vendors of these everywhere ; and, 

 stranger still, actually see grown men buying 

 them. Whether they think they will bring them 

 " luck " — and there is scarcely anything a regular 

 " turfite" would not do if he thought it would bring 

 him luck — or whether they imagine the taste of 

 juvenile luxuries will restore the innocence of their 

 youth, I do not know ; but that they buy them and 

 actually eat them is an undoubted fact. Apples, 

 too, are sold ; and once I saw a man selling prawns 

 in the stand itself. Now fresh prawns for break- 

 fast are very nice, and so is prawn-curry ; but wind- 

 and sun-dried prawns offered for consumption by 

 themselves in the middle of the day are not very 

 inviting, and I did not see anyone buy them. At 

 the railway station also, when you are returning, 

 you find a lot of women hawking ducks and 

 chickens about, but I never saw anybody buy them. 

 Indeed, it would be rather puzzling to know what 

 to do with one if you did purchase it. You could 



