THE JOSKINS SERIES OF SPORTING STORIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 81

THE JOSKINS SERIES OF SPORTING STORIES.

■By F. DA. C. De L'lslk. (AuthoT 'of ."Tales of Sahib Land," "Tales of the 2tJth 8.L./' "The Adventures of a Turf Detective," "Sport the World Over," etc;, etc.) (All Righte Reserved. )- No. II.— A NARROW ESCAPE. The joyful Joskins was in high glee. His first cojjp "had come off. He was the possessor ojf a Hunt "Club winner, and a good winner txt that. Jbskinfe "hiigged himself : foT-'he was' prone to %c a visionary, and rose-coloured scenes would persist in rising before his eyes as he surveyed his bank book after he 'had corralled the little yellow boys that he toad garnered in over Rocket's win in the Point to Podnt Steeplechase of "the Wcldshire Worriers. Dreams of magnificent racing sta.bles, equal to any in the United Kingdom, floated before his eyes. He would have two-score of the best Tacing blood in the world in his loose-boxes, and Derbys, St. Legers, Eclipse Stakes, and Gold Cupsgalore should fall to 'his stable, and, incidentally, go to increase his bank account ; to say notMng of Grand Nationals that he intended to win off his own bat. He was a most atnbrtkms little man, was Anthony Augustus" Joskins, for so smrll a person ; and he was gifted with imaginative powefe that would have given Jules Verne a stone and a beating. No sooner wa6 the Point to Poinit Race won than lie commenced discussing the question with Con as to tie appearance of Rocket in open But Con, although a madheaded Irish lad in many things, had served his apprenticeship in a very hard and rough school, whereby he had accumulated a large fund of dry horse cense ; and Con advised .caution. Precipitancy, he argued, in forceful and common language, was t/he stumbling block of fools. Go slow, but go^tb win, was his theoTy in life. "Th' horse is a good horse," he said significantly ; "but, shure, sorr, he ain't beaten anything but rags! Ef yez thry him wid the big guns, yez will nun his dhanst! Small fish are swa.te ; an' ye -wante to grow fait on de small fish furrst! Thin whin ye 'aye beaten tbim all, have a go at the ckampeens. Kape him in de hunt meetin's; shure, there are hundreds ay thim to pick from. Don't fly too fur ; thrv kape close to de grass. Thin yez'll never lose yersilf f The philosophy of Con could not but fail to have a certain deterrent effect upon the ambitions of Joskins. Though prudent himself, as a rule, yet when he thought of all his newly-acquired wealth he was apt to ' grow speculative. "I think we ought to have another horse in the stables. Con !" he said suggestively as they discussed the future of the triumphant Rocket. "I can spare a couple of centuries, and for that I think we ought to get something better than a commoner, eh?" Con waxed enthusiastic. Horse-riding and horse-training were the joys of his life. "Bedad, sorr, an' Oi know a shmall farrm, beyant Ballinasloc, pwhere fur lnlf that money Oi cud git yez a Grand National winner ! Patsy Butler owns a four-year-old by Cossack thot Oi know he wants to sell. Patsy's me own mother's brother, an', shure, but he would ba plazed to sell me the colt. 'Tis a foine, fast thoroughbred, sorr, an' can lep loike the biggest etag !" Joskins did not hesitate for one moment. He 'had learned to have a wh^esouled confidence in Con's sagacity and in his astute opinions. "You can catch the morning special and cross to Kingston to-night. Go straight to your uncle, buy the horse at once, and return with, him as soon as you possibly oaji »" exclaimed Joslans. Con wae en-raptured 1 at the idea, and he lay awake 'half the nigiht dreaming of his trip to his own, his native land .' The next morning Con departed to purdiase the Coesack colt, and Joskins went into the village to procure a locum tenens. Con had been very emphatic in his directions as to the exact amount of exercise and feeding that Rocket was to have what time his trainer was away ; and Joskins spent all that forenoon in instructing the temporary stable assistant as to his duties and the care of the Point to Point Steeplechase winner. v Con was away for a week, but midway through that time Joskins received a most wngrammatical cablegram from Con stating that the purchase had been duly effected, and that the "bouse" was a "wondher." Joskins was harassed with impatience, and so anxious was he for the arrival of the Cossack colt that he came to well nigh forgetting Rocket altogether. When ait length Con arrived Joskins was waiting at the railway station in a perfect fever of excitement, which became a thousandfold greater when he cast his eyes over the handsome dappled chestnut that Con led out of the horse-box on to the platform. Joskins was in ecstasies. "What a beauty ! What a magnificent animal! He must be over sixteen hands, Con! What quarters J My s*tars, he ought to be able to jump a church ! Can he gallop, Con?" asked Joskins, as Con vaulted lightly on to the back of his " charge and rode away with his master towards home. "He can thot !" said Con approvingly : "he's , a rale thoroughbred 'un from th' ouldesfc an' best. blood in Oireland ! He's half-brother to a Grand National winner, and he can gallop an' stay for iver !" "He's as handsome as paint, too, by Jove I" ejaculated Joskins, glancing prou<fly at his new purchase. " ATe liis manners good. Con?" "He is a perrfect gintleman, sorr! A choild oan handle him. Yez'll foind him iver sp much better than ould stick-in-the-mud !— beggin' yr pardin', m'aning Bockafc, sorr !" replied Con. , Arrived at Joskins's quarters, the newcomer was soon comfortably stabled, and while he munched away contentedly at

his feed, Con removed his clothing and wont over him point for pomt wilh his master. Poor old Rocket was put in the j shade completely by the hnndrome Irishi man in the next box to him. The following day Joskins fared forth on 'his latest purchase, accompanied by Gon, on Rocket. ! '^\ e n . ew nor£ft had 'been christened TheSkirmi&her by his tnniar, ivlio had a v-sry faint sort of idea of wliat a Cossack wae. The horse was fresh, and Joskins had much .work to do to hold him, but after a time he quietened down wonderfully, and then: the two horses were given a trial over a- mite across country on the .Point to Point Steeplec&ise course. To J«skins"s unfeigned delight The Skirmisher won by the length of a street ; poor Roek-et floundering along 'hopelessly in the rear of this smashing thoroughbred. "There, sorr!" said Con, as they turned homewards ;* "Oi've not decayed yez. pi tould yez he wus a woncHier, an' he is. Wid three months' thrainin' he cud win a Nationail !" "By Jove ! he shall have every opportunity," gushed Joskins ; "he shall go into training at once !" Joskins was true to his word. From the day following the trial. Con wns kopt incessantly at work twining ''is two charges for forthcoming ewnts. Although the hunting season wat> over, there were many meet mgis of insignificant standing, where tbene was always a small stake given for hunters' races. " Joskirts had entered Rocket for a couple of these events, and his next care was to find a race for The Skirmisher in which the horse could win easily without giving his actual form away. Again did Con's past experience come to the aid of his very green master. j "Shure sorr!" eaid Con, "the horse is a maiden.; though, 04 won't be sayin' thot me own mother's brother haven't won j % match or two wid him at Ballinaeloe Fair. Birt matches don't count, an' there's whips ay Novices' Steeplechases being run fur now thot he cud win on three legs ! Shure, yez must thry him wid the novices, furrst!" Therefore did Joskins enter The. Skirmisher for the Novices' Steeplechase at Lingfield Park, to be run a month after the Cossack colt had actually been put into training. Among the many members of the Woldshire Worriers' Hunt Club that Joskins had become familiarly acquainted with were Captain Bedloe, late of the 300 th Foot, now on half-pay ; and Lieutenant Colingbourne, late of the 60th Hussars, retired. As these two gentlemen figure prominently in this story, a few words concerning themselves and their antecedents will be necessary. Captain Bedloe had been a ranker. Who his progenitors were was mythical. That is, nobody had ever known of their existence. A smart army training had enabled Private Bedloe to blossom into areally first-class non-commissioned officer, and subsequent energy, good conduct, and , indefatigable perseverance on, the lines j of communication in. the seeocd Soudan • campaign had found him highly recom- | mended for a commission. When he was I gazetted an officer, he continued to gain • good opinions from all his superiors as a hard and constant worker ; and the efficiency of the companies placed in his charge was a standing advertisement to We smartness and car-e. On obtaining his brevet captaincy he was retired from. I the service on lialf-pay ; his enemies said rather sufidenlj-. Nobody seemed exactly to know why, but there was a general rumour that Captain Bedloe's retirement , was not unconnected with the suicide of , a junior officer of his regiment. The unj fortunate young fellow had shot himself . owing to heavy losses in betting, which ihe had been unable to meet. The popui lar opinion wks that he had been heavily J "rooked" ; and Captain Bedloe, who was i known t-o have won very heavily from ' him, was suspected of corrupt practices. He retired into Woldshire, and now led I the life of a hunting and racing man in a v«rj- small m"iiT- N'eV'eith-eles&j it was a very paying way. No horsre owned by Captain Bedloe ever failed to earn his oats. That Captain Bedloe was unscrupulous in all lus turf dealings was an open secret to the middle and lower classes of the turfites he mixed among&t ; , but among the county families, who do j not, as a rule, get the same opportunities of experience, he was still a gentleman, and received as such. But he was bad to his heart's core ; bad as a really clever swindler can be. ' He had early marked down Joskins as a lamb to be easily skinned, and when Joskins began to cultivate his acquaintance, the ranker chuckled with glee at his good luck in finding his way made smooth, for him. Lieutenant Colingbourne, on the other hand, was a thorough gentleman, the son of a gentleman, and a member of one of the most aristocratic of English families. He had been compelled to retire from the army owing to an unfortunate loss of fortune through no fault of his own ; and on a very reduced income he struggled along in an honest endeavour to hold his own among his set. He had a small shooting and hunting box in Woldshire, and he hunted one hunter two days in the week during the hunting season. He also generally had a couple of racehorses Tunning regularly at the small country meetings. Necessity had made him a l clever man, as sharp as a needle ; and I no one on the turf could overreach him or get the best of him. He was as honest as it was possible for a man in his position, to be. He had long ago recogn-sed the impossibility of running to win every time, therefore his horses, to use a racing expression, won in their turn. He was always astute enough to make racing pay him ; but he did not indulge in any dirty tricks as a means to that end ; and his name had never been connected J with suspicious practices on tlie turf. With these two widely-different characters had Joskins chummed and made more ' than ordinary acquaintances of. J Con was for ever impressing upon his \ master the necessity for keeping absolute , silence over stable affairs, and Joskins 1 a hundred and one times nearly bit the tip of his tongue off as he caught himself waxing enthusiastic over the Cossack

rheumatism: cured. " For many weary years I suffered \ fiom great debility and acute rheumatism ; I had stiffness in the joints and muscles, more- particularly in the back, '] . -where^the pampas mos>t excruciating*, j , .&fy appetite iailed and 'l became weak ...and irritable.- I -tried e-ver-y 'treatment • and jaedicme I- could. Hear oi that was . likely -to- do me good, but without avail. I had lost faith in patent -mcdi etnas,, but my were so great that -^fhen- • Warper.' s Saf t> Cure was j brought under my notice I gave it « i trial.. .Wh»u I .had taken the contents "of ene bottle. l. obtained, ,fsveat relief. "I • continued taking the medicine for some timpe, w,h»n 1 vfas relieved, of all pnyi and suffering. JVly recovety was to nm a great surprise, for 1 am getting on in years. ' I have flved in >this district for oy»r IVfty years:" „ - - ' F This' letter is- from Mrs Eliza Mab» nifh, 15,"Gfurner Street, Paddingtan, 1 Sydney.STOITE CURED. " Some ten years a>»o I was attacked by great pains in the back and «roin. which at times were so severe th.it I almost screamed with agony. 1 was treated by doctors for fully five years, and also tried several patent medicines, but obtained no relief. I at, last despaired of ever getting well again, but was rdcommonded by a friend to try Warner's Safe Cure, as it had g^iven him immense relief in a similar case. I followed his advice, and after taking the medicine for a while, 1 passed a. stone about, three quarters of an inch long and a quarter of an inch wide. I am pleased to say that, after this sicne had come away, nry sufferings were at an end, and I have not suffered in the slightest degree since. Many of n.y friends know of my ease, and 1 always keep the stone I passed. I can confidently recommend Warner's Safe Cure in oases like mine, as 1 am thoroughly convinced that it saved me many years of agony, if not my very -life itself." .This letter is from Mr. James Grant., Grocer k 126, Young Street, Aunandale, N.S.W. BLADDER DISEASE CUK^D. " No one knows the suffering £ went ti' rough before 1 began to take Warner's Safe Cure. For ten years 1 suffered from my kidneys and liver, and finally bladder disease set m I have been in five hospitals — three in New South Wales and two in Victoria. 1 was operated on I consulted many • doctors, but never obtained more than temporary relief until a friend induced me to take Warner's Safe Cure. I gave the medicine a fair trial, and, to my surprise and delight, I began to get better rapidly, until now I am in perfect health. 1 never felt better in my life, and I am 70 years of age. I only wish that 1 had taken Warner's Safe Cure long ago, as I know that I should then have been spared years of agony. I hope that you will publish this letter far and wide so that other sufferers from bladder trouble may know how to obtain relief. I cannot praise Warner's Safe Cure too highly. To me it has been the greatest boon." This letter is from Mr. M. Nolan, Picton Cottage, 21, Hopkins Street, Richmond, Vie. In addition to the regular 5/ and 2/9 bottles of Warner's Safe Cure, a concentrated form of the medicine is now issued at 2/6 per bottle. Warner's Safe Cure (Concentrated) is not compounded with alcohol, and contains the same number of doses as the 5/- bottle of Warner's Safe Cure. A treatise will be sent, post free, by H. H. Warner and Co., Ltd., Australasian Branch, Melbourne. colt and his accomplishments. Both Captain Bedloe and Lieutenant Colmgboume had horses entered in, the Novices' Steeplechase at Lingfield Park ; and the former was for ever trying to learn from Joskins what his new purchase wa6 capable of doing. And no doubt he would have succeeded but for the astuteness of Con. Con knew the full stiength of Captain Bedloe's character just as well as any other groom, trainer, or tout ; and his incessant warnings to his master to " look out fur thot blaggard Capt'n Bedloe! Tell him nawthin'. Tell him the colt's no good !" had its effect on Joskins, and he avoided the subject of racing when with the captain with an adroitness much to be commended. A week before the race The Skirmisher was going great guns, and it looked a guinea to a gooseberry on his annexing the Novices' Steeplechase at Lingfield Park. But about this time the Wetherley Hunt £lub advertised their programme, and in it was a Maiden Steeplechase of 100sov6, for all horses that had never won a race. Joskins, looking over the Sportsman, saw the Tace advertised, and consulted Con as to the advisability of entering The SkirmisheT for that event. The meeting was to take place a fortnight after Lingfield Park, and The Skirmisher would be fit and well by that time. " But supposing we win at Lingfield !" said Joskins. " Shure, 'tis only thurrty soverins, said Con deprecatingly ; " an' five ay thot to the second horse ! 'Twould be a pity to miss the chanst of thot hunerd pound !" He glanced shyly at his master. "Well, what can we do?" asked Joskins. " Shure an' bedad, an' yez moight take a hould ay the colt, sorr. See here, if yez win at Lingfield, yez get twinty-foive pound, the colt loses his maiden standin', and he goes up from sivin to tin pounds fur bis next Taaoe, or maybf* a sthone, for in th' nixt raaca he runs he'll sthart at aven money ! Phwat a shame ! Supposin' yez take a hould ay him, an run second. Yez'll git foive pounds. They do be sayin' thot blaggard Capt'n Bedloe has the winner in Catjumper. Foive pounds on his -horse at fowers is twinty pounds, an' foiv-e fur second is twinty•foive pounds aisily orat! Aa' w«

sthart at Wherthby at sivins to wan, wid a dead certainty! Put the twinty-foive pounds on at sivins to wan, an* yez 'win two hunner-an' sivinty pound wid stake. Arrah Intake a hould uv' him, sorr." JoskAs demurred ; lamely, it is true, "but tie idid deciina^ ok &vst x to- nut a .bye? •Con's forceful" logic $&& stnicS \ifcr in a '_soft place, but' "he 'Jiad 5s yet "done'- *n*> 'sift on -the turf, and his neophyte heart shuddeffid ati,theidea ot S ftunp. — To-_ pull a -horse seemed a diabolical thing "to" him. -• .jl '•"*"" :" '. -• - •' Why not go for a win at Lingfiekl and a, Big wagei ?"' asked Joskins feeblj-. "'ln % thurrty pound raace!" said Con, with infinite i scorn, " Yez'd nivep £ii> morn -ioive-, hurw^pr if ..-csz.was,. ;o tkry till the-cows came home! '^ ' ' But for the time being "Jcskins remained obdurate. He- shied at corrupt ' pi acti'cSs, ; •a-nd siiid 60. --' i hz ' z " Iviry mother's son ay, does it," said Con. "An' ef yex manes, runnin'- to win evlry toirne, Oi give ye six months to be ruined stock, kick, _ari* barrel; body an' bones!" "- ~* Two days before the meeting Captain Bedloe called at Joskins Lodge to feel the pulse of that establishment. An itinerant tout had accidentally witnessed a gallop between The Skiimisher and Rocket, and his regort to some of the lesser sporting papers, very much in favour of the Cossack colt, had caught Captain Bedloe's eye. Con was present at the interview, which took place outside the stables. "What ho. Jossy!" was Captain Bedloe's cordial greeting, as he dismounted from his cob, and approached the loosebox in which stood Rocket. " I've come to have a look at your champion ! I see the Early Bird speaks well of his gallop ye&terday morning. Is this the crack?" alluding to Rocket. " Thot's him," replied Con's gruff voice, quickly, as that worthy threw a light rug over the already hooded hunter. "Don't like him much!" ejaculated the Captain. "Don't look like pace; might make a. hunter. What you doin' about Lingfield? Goin' to win, eh, old flick?" He playfully prodded Joskins in the ribs with his hunting crop. " Shure, Oi'm afraid we can't win, sorr," replied Con respectfully .with an appealing and anguished glance of apology at his master. " They do be sayin' thot Catjumper has the raace at his mercy." . Captain Bedloe laughed grimly. "If I mean business,' he said decidedly, "my horse will win. But I want ■'to know first of all what I'm meeting. The Early Bird says The Skirmisher is a bit of a smasher, so I came over to have a consultation. Judging from appearances, my horse is a racier animal than yours, and I'm not in love with your chance. There are seven starters, and four of the owners are agreeable to back mine for a fiver apiece. Will you do the same, and make the matter a ' cert ' ? You can take second money if you like — the other© are agreeable; I've consulted them." Joskins said "No" most deliberately. "I say no, because I am not going in for corrupt practices. If Lieutenam* Colinbourne is running straight, as I understand from you. I admire his courage and honour. I intend to do the same myself," remarked the diminutive Joskins, with a mind conscious of rectitude. Captain Bedloe laughed a short, dry kind of cackle. "Very well, then; we will say no more about it. I will speak to you upon this subject six months hence, and if you persist in your heroic resolve, I imagine your views will undergo a change within that time. By-bye, old boy ; good luck to you!" and Captain Bodloe iode away chuckling sardonically. Con suggested, in the politest manner at his command, and in graphic inuuendo, that his master was the two ends and the middle of a d d little fool, and Joskins began to think so too. He thought deeply over tho matter, and on the following morning informed Gon that he was prepared to "take a hold" of the colt. Con's expansive face beamed with pleasure. Shure, thot's th' roight way, sorr," said he, smiling joyfully. "Oi'll be afther seem' that blaggard ay a Capt'n Bedloe this afthernoon, an' Oi'll make ivirythin' roight wid him, sorr." While Con was away that afternoon Lieutenant Colingbonrne called on Joskins. "Let's have a look at The Skirmisher, Joskins?" said the gallant soldier after a whisky and seltzer and a long palaver o\er the coming races. In the innocence of his heart Joskins led the way to the stables, and proudly, exhibited his latest purabase. Lieutenant Colingbourne studied the colt carefully, ( and passed his hands all over him. "A fine animal!" said the lieutenant. "A really fine animal ! I'll give you two hundred and fifty guineas for him now if you'll 6ell !" Joskins shook his 'head and smiled craftily. "You can't help walking in for the Novices' Steeple !" said Colinbourne as they strolled back to the house. "You're going for a win, I suppose !" Joskins lied, and blushed at his crime. "Yes. I mean to win if I can !" he replied. "You can't help it !" said Lieutenant Colingboume. "I think I could just beat Catjumper, but yours is a couple of stone a better animal than mine. No, thanks, I won't stay to dinner ; I'll see you at Lingfield. Good-bye!" and, jumping into his dog-cart, the "lieutenant drove away. His mind was made up. The Novices' Steeplechase at Lingfield was not for him, so a tenner on The Skirmisher would do him down to the ground. But he was cautious. He did not admire Joskins as a horseman, and with a Anew to pc*sibilities backed The Skirmisher, first past the post. Con made ail the necessary arrangements with Captain Bedloe ; and •when the day of the races arrived Joskins had a fiver on Catjumper, as also had foui of the other owners in the race. Captain Bedloe backed his horee for a hundred, and Lieutenant Colingbourne had a tenner on Skirmisher, first past the post.

Joskins and Lieutenant G'oling^boursvji rode their own horses, and a professional jockey was up on Catjumper. The bookmakers lai-d three to one Catjumpcr, four to. on^ .Cojingboume's Pride, and ten tt> one the" others. Gem impressed " iipoii his 1 -masfcsr^-in. forceful language how to ride g, byerVitluait •.sheaving . -his hand- tool s j ~£xi& Joskins -went* out on'- T?h& 1 Skirmisher with the instructions imprinted on: his brain, in letters of fire. All "would" have been" werf J but for one ' thing. -. The fieJd got aw»y well, and after goinjr half a^inile togtfttier the four ■"dead " 'uns" tailed, off, and Catjunppr ran int. the lead, two lengths in 'front* 6T Tin Skirmisher-, who was a bare length h front of lieutenant Colingbourne. Th< latter" gay that Joskins had a doubl« musale-grinder grip on ibis ; hdrseb» head.--and he began to become suspicious. Hali a mile -from home Catjumper was four lengths in. front, there were only two more fences to be crossed, and uoskina had not moved on his horse or loosened! -bhat terrible >hold. The lieutenant, spotted ra ramp, and- made up his mind instanter. His horse, ©ot having been hustled, was still fresh. Riding up alongside The Skirmisher as they raced at the next fence, Lieutenant - Colingbourne hit Joskins 's horse a couple of terrific cracks with his whip over the haunohes. The effect, was electrical. With a frenzied bound the Cossack colt cleared #he obstacle, and reefed .his head free from the iron grip of Joskins, who had landed on the horse's neck, and was powerless to hold him. In twenty strides the colt meed up to Catjumper, while Colingbourne' s Pride galloped up behind him with, thundering hoofs. Captain Bedloe's jockey rode his horse hard, and succeeded in keeping -with Joskins to the last fence. Here Lieutenant Colingbourne joined them, and one* more ladled out two terrific whacks to The Skirmisher. The three houses cleared the fence together, but The Skirmisher landed feet in front, and going away from the others, won anyhow, with Joskina struggling impotently to get another grip of the reins. Nobody, had seen Lieutenant Colingbourne's work, and only Joskins knew of •io. But ho was powerless to complain. Con was in ecstasies of grief. Not so Cfcptarrr Bedloe. He was always a man of resource. The situation might yet bo saved. After a short colloquy wit«h his jockey he " promptly entered a protest on the grounds of interference! Joskins was haled before the stewards and furiously charged with having jostled! Catjumper at the last jump, and then with having crossed him. And Joskins, ■thougii he* fenew right well that nothing of the kind had happened, acknowledged the fault, said he was sorry, and that it was all against his own inclination that he had been guilty of interference. The stewards promptly disqualified The Skirmisher, and awarded the race to the second horse, Catjumper. So everybody was satisfied. Lieutenant Colingbourtie pocketed a hundred pounds, and smiled serenely. Captain Bedloe and his confederates made a, haul, and Joskins came out with a balance on the right side of the ledger. But, nevertheless, he was compelled to admit to Con that if was A Narrow Escape.