The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-15 00:00:00

tlemah in question held his thick book in left and pencil in
right hand, which he extended for coin. A half " soy"
—perhaps " a so v"—was dropped mechanically in, and
the horse named. The coin was then placed between the
book maker's teeth while he entered the transaction, and
then it was dropped into the waistcoat pocket. The pro-
cess was repeated in less time than it takes to state the fact
—the layer quietly moving on in obedience to the police-
man's injunction, and the wide awakes and greenhorns
following to take their turns. What a memory must be
needed for such a pursuit ! Hundreds of little transactions
in a morning, 10s. being the lowest sum taken. How
apparently easy for some ingenious rough to watch a verdant-
looking taker of odds, hear the price and name given, apply
the next day before the real Simon Pure, and get the money.
I was told that the idea had struck several practical hands,
who had attempted to carry it out, but the layer was too
vinch for them. He was called the " City Leviathan,"
seemed careworn, like a Chancellor of the Exchequer with
a puzzling budget. What a rare accountant this gentle-
man would make. The mild and memory of such a man
must prove invaluable to many of our go-ahead merchants.
A scheming leather firm, now, with a dozen or so of
branches all working to a given pobt—an externally
pious banking affair, or a large concern of aQy kind—would
find one of the leviathan's class a treasure. He may be,
and possibly is, alone in his extreme industry—however
this may be, the denizens of the lane mostly 'spoke well of
hint.
Some little joking had been going on, chiefly as to the
motley groups before us, when the volunteers took their
departure, and a seedy sportsman, who had evidently seen
other days, accosted me in a civil way, and hinted that he
knew something to my advantage. I was, of course, deli.
rolls of being enlightened at once, when he said there was a
rare rig going on—a horse had been scratched last night,
and a number of Welchers had made him first favourite—
that 2 to 1 was being taken in immense quantities of silver
—that the " Leviathan" would net touch him, and I must
be on my guard not to follow the public money. I inquired
the use of such a process, the bets being obviously void if
taken the day after a horse had been struck out. " True,
the bets are off," said the man, and the layers will all be
off, too, when the ring breaks up at three? o'clock." The
policeman was nowhere to be seen, but the public were
frantic about the " favourite," and no one knew die reason
of his scratching having been omitted from the tissue i —So
the Welchers had a very profitable afternoon, and sufficient
to launch them fairly on the winter. I thanked the seedy
gentleman for his information, and thought that, whether
it was true or not, his motive was good. I after-
wards was told that the news was quite correct—
that the Greenhorns on this occasion had been
victimised again. A disagreeable-looking fast boy, with
a very dirty pipe, was emerging from the tavern door
as I was about leaving. He said to me—" I say,
guv'nor, what's the odds about Spurgeon's new concern
being finished before Christmas r I have no doubt of the
fellow being some low scamp, and did not think much of
his discrimination in selecting me as an authority on such
a subject.
The " man in the street" may follow his occupation with-
out the cost of an establishment—rent, taxes, club
subscriptions, and such things are unknown to him.
The great City justices appear to have been out-
witted at last. They are stated to have set on the police
to inform against every place where there would have been
some guarantee that the public eye should not be offended,
and where bets might have been quietly made without the
inducements that an otherwise unfrequented street pre-
sents for idlers and others to meet together for fleecing that
portion of the unwary that can obviously afford it the least.
But the fact shows the indomitable pluck of our real Eng-
lishman, a fixed resolve not to be beaten by trifles, and an
energy to surmount anything rather than lose his favourite
pastime. A strong love of our national sport pervades,
more or less, the beat part of most degrees of society. True
gentlemen have large hearts and kindly feelings, are
thorough haters of humbug, and respect consistent customs
aid prejudices, even though the parties cannot from their
positions hope to join the more favoured circles of their
betters. At the same time, like the writer, they will ever
lend their influence to check and expose patent charlatan-
ism and open cheating, so let the reader pause before he
trusts all the men he may meet with in the street.