ick winners that day,
and he lost solidly on every race. He plunged a bit on the fourth race,
hoping to get his money back; but that was worse still, and when he
saw the favourite winning, he knew he had no hope of settling up. So he
quietly collected his horse, which he had tied up in a convenient
place, in case it was wanted in a hurry, and made tracks before the race
finished."

"What happened to him?" asked Bob.

Mr. Linton chuckled.

"Well, he added considerably to the excitement of the day. Some one
saw him going, and passed the word round, and every man to whom he owed
money--and they were many--ran for his horse and went after him. He had
a good start, and no one knew what road he would take, so it was quite
a cheery hunt. I think it was Dave Boone who tracked him at last, and he
paused at a cross-roads, and coo-eed steadily until he had a number
of followers. Then they set sail after the poor bookie, and caught
him about seven or eight miles away. They found he had practically no
money--not nearly enough to divide up; so they took what he had and
presented it to the Cunjee Hospital, and finished up the day happily by
tarring and feathering the bookie, and riding him on a fence rail round
Cunjee that night!"

"What do your police do in a case like that?" Bob asked.

"Well, there's only one policeman in Cunjee, and, being a wise man, he
went to the concert, and probably enjoyed himself very much," said Mr.
Linton, laughing.

"And what happened to the bookie?"

"Just what you might expect--the boys got sorry for him, made a
collection for him, bought him some cheap clothes--I believe they didn't
err on the side of beauty!--and shipped him off to Melbourne by the
first train in the morning. I don't think he'll try his artful dodges
on this section of the bush again; and it has made all the boys very
watchful about betting, so it wasn't a bad thing, on the whole. They
think they know all about the ways of the world now. Look, Tommy--the
horses are off! Watch through the trees, and you'll get a glimpse
presently."

The gay jackets flashed into view in a gap in the timber, and then were
lost again. Soon they came in sight once more and rounded the last
curve into the straight, amid shouts from the crowd. They came up the
straight, most of the jockeys flogging desperately, while everyone
rushed to get as near the winning-post as possible. Hats were flung in
the air and yells rose joyfully, as a Cunjee boy, r