ll's more
than once. He was not in the least emblematic like the old fox, but a
man of sound sense, with no poetry, of an extremely good nature, and
full of anecdote. You might follow his advice, and it would be well
with you; or you might follow your opinion in opposition to his and
take your chance. His name was Hill--Harry Hill they familiarly called
him--and although you might have many a grander acquaintance, you
could never meet a truer friend.

He was an old and much-respected friend of the Baron, and that says
a great deal for him; for if anybody in the world could understand a
_man_, it was Baron Martin. Whether it was the Prime Minister or the
unhappy thief in the dock, he knew all classes and all degrees of
criminality. He was not poetical with regard to landscapes, for if
one were pointed out to him by some proprietor of a lordly estate,
he would say, "Yes, a vera fine place indeed; and I would have the
winning-post _there_!"

The old fox and Harry Hill! The two characters at Tattersall's in
those days can never be forgotten, by those who knew them.

It may seem strange in these more enlightened days that at that time
I was under the impression that no one could make a bet unless he had
the means of paying if he lost. This statement will provoke a
smile, but it is true. The consequence was that I was debarred from
speculating where I thought I had a most excellent chance of winning,
having been brought up to believe that the world was almost destitute
of fraud--a strange and almost unaccountable idea which only time and
experience proved to be erroneous. Judge of the vast unexplored field
of discovery that lay before me! Harry Hill was better informed. He
had lived longer, and had been brought in contact with the cleverest
men of the age. He knew at a glance the adventurous fool who staked
his last chance when the odds were a hundred to one, and also the man
of honour who staked his life on his honesty--and sometimes _lost_!

There were "blacklegs" in those days who looked out for such honest
gentlemen, and _won_--scoundrels who degrade sport, and trade
successfully on the reputations of men of honour. You cannot cope with
these; honesty cannot compete with fraud either in sport or trade.

It was a very brief Sunday sermon which Harry preached to me this
afternoon, but it was an effective one, and out of the abundance of
his good nature he gave me these well-remembered words of friendly
warning,--

"