am not hungry"); but he dearly
liked what he called a "spec." Never shall I forget the first time he
realised anything that could be termed a stake.

When he was about sixteen, he and I had driven over to some little
country races a few miles away from Dalton, without, I fear, announcing
our intention of so doing. Fresh air was good for "our dear Richard,"
and since pedestrian exercise (which he also hated) exhausted him, he
had a groom and dog-cart always at his own disposal. It was a day of
great excitement for me, who had never before seen a race-course. The
flags, the grand stand (a rude erection of planks, which came down,
by-the-bye, the next year during the race for the cup, and reduced the
sporting population), the insinuating gipsies, the bawling card-sellers,
and especially the shining horses with their twisted manes, all excited
my admiration.

I was well acquainted with them in fiction; and these illustrations of
the books I loved so well delighted me. Richard, who had read less and
seen more, was bent on business.

He was tall for his age, but very slight and youthful-looking, and the
contrast of his appearance with that of the company in the little ring,
composed as it was of a choice selection of the roughest blackguards in
England, was very striking.

Many of these knew who he was, and were very glad to see him, but only
one of the book-makers secured his patronage. The fact was, Master
Richard had but one five-pound note to lay; he had been saving up his
pocket-money for weeks for this very purpose, and he took ten to one
about an outsider, "Don Sebastian,"--a name I shall remember when all
other historical knowledge has departed from me,--not because he knew
anything of the horse, but because the longest odds were laid against
him.

I didn't like the look of the "gentleman sportsman" who took custody
of that five-pound note, but Richard (who had never seen him before)
assured me, with his usual confidence, that he was "straight as a die"
and "as honest as the day."

The race excited me exceedingly; Richard had lent me a field-glass (for
everything he had was in duplicate, if not triplicate), and I watched
the progress of that running rainbow with a beating heart. At first
Yellow Cap (the Don) seemed completely out of it, the last of all; but
presently he began to creep up, and as they drew near the winning-post,
shouts of "Yellow Cap wins!" "Yellow Cap wins!" rent the air. He did
win by a head