UV/0 SETS THE MARKET? 211 



ncss ; the proprietor may gamble tliroijo-liout, or he 

 may bet to figures. Take an average day, and we 

 shall fi,nd six races set for decision, in which from 

 thirty to forty horses may actually compete, starting 

 at such prices as have been recorded in a previous 

 page. From an early hour the bookmaker's friends 

 and clients begin to pop in, some to invest at once, 

 others to gossip over the chances of the day. Opinions 

 are exchanged. ' I know one good thing for to-day/ 

 observes Bill Thomson. ' Well ?' says Jack Johnson, 

 * Trapbois should win that 'ere welter easy, seeing as 

 how he ran The Nig'^er to a nose two weeks since. 

 I'll have my thick 'un (sovereign) on that 'oss.' And 

 so the day proceeds ; men who receive telegrams from 

 the course plank down their dollars and half- 

 sovereigns, till a considerable sum has been received ; 

 and the bookmaker, finding that he has taken rather 

 much for some of the likely winners, sends out his 

 scouts to place some of the money he has drawn with 

 other layers of the odds. As the forenoon advances, 

 timid-looking men slink in, and whisper their desires, 

 evidently fearful of being noticed ; others, with less 

 reticence, make their investments boldly, not caring 

 who knows what they are doing. Racing begins at 

 l.oO; and in a few minutes after that time a man 

 rushes in to say that The Plover has won, Bantam 

 second. Partridge third. All present are affected by 

 the news: 'Just my luck; second again!' says one. 

 ' Pm not in it,' says another ; ' I backed The Peacock ;' 

 and so the wail goes round ; and on the fact being 

 found out that no one has backed The Ph)ver, the 

 bookmaker is chaffed into standing drinks. Better 



14—2 



