CHAPTER XIX.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1607, 21 October 1882, Page 1 (Supplement)

CHAPTER XIX.

Walter lost no time in writing to his father upon the subject of the marriage, and so confident was he of a favorable, answer that he looked upon the matter as already settled. I was much less sanguine in the matter, how-, ever, for my confidence in the Count's sagacity was great; but I kept my misgivings to myself, arid made no attempt ,to damp Walter's expectations. '" ' • " Are you anything of a sporting man ?" he asked me, rather abruptly, on'the morning following the conversation detailed in the preceding chapter. ■ '"" ' * " I used to take a good deal of interest m such matters," I replied; ".but 1 not-latterly. Why do you ask??' ■" <■ '■ ' ' ' "Because I wish t6 tell yon that, even if we take the* worst for.: granted—if we suppose my father refuses his consent, I have still, got a string to my bow 1" '" * ''> < " Indeed! But what' has that to do with sporting matters?" "I'will tell you. You have:.heard oftbe Melbourne Cup?" < - '<■ i i , -f ■ " Of course; the great race of the jfeafr. <, 1 " Yes. ' Well," it • will' beimn in ia'<couple of months'from'now^aiid'Kiagi&f thes-Sduth is, , first favourite*'' f\ >?; '>„ *$'"-} tt\ «>} <§

■Soul i : — nay, nioie, lie is scaiooly mcnlioiiL'tl ! in Iho betting at all !" " Indeed 1 And this wonderful animal I presume you have backed." " Yes ; I have got immense odds' against him. lam not at liberty to mention his name, but I can put something on him for you if you wish." "Thank you ! — I am not inclined to speculate ; and if you'll take my advice you'll have nothing to do with him either !" " Oh, I have not much to lose, and I stand to win enough to make me quite independent of my father 1" I shook my head. "My experience' teaches me io place little faith in ' tips' of any kind," I said ; " and these very mysterious and wonderful pieces of information are doubly suspicious. But I hope you know your man." " I do ; there are two of them, and I believe they are both to be relied on. I am going to see them this evening ; and, if you like to come with me, I'll show you a little Melbourne sporting life." " Agreed ! — provided it be not of too low an order." " Oh, no ! Quite respectable, for the sort of thing. I'll call for you in the evening ; goodbye in the meantime — I must get back to^the oflice." " I wonder what the Count would say to this betting business," I said to myself when Walter had left me. " I'll sound him on the subject at the first opportunity." But, though I carried out this intention in what 1 thought was a most diplomatic manner, the quick-witted Count saw how the land lay in a moment. - "Ahl" he said— "l suppose our friend Walter has been dabbling in it. This betting mania," he went on, "is nothing more than the lottery-fever of the Continent, in another form. Your English law theoretically forbids lotteries, and so the inherent delight in the worship of chance must find another outlet. Not that there is any difference in piinciple. It is all very well to talk of the delight in a good race— the improvement in the breed of horses, and so forth ; absolutely prohibit the betting, and horse-racing will sink into insignificance, instead of being, as now, the all-engrossing amusement of this community. As regards any proclivities which Walter may have in that direction, it will be time enough for me to consider that question when this matter of the marriage is settled." Seven o'clock the same evening found me approaching with Walter a well-known sporting hotel in one of the principal streets of Melbourne. The front was a blaze of light, and, as we entered at a side-door, Walter informed me that the landlord was the celebrated Bill Crusher, ex-champion of England. Passing along a narrow entry, through various openings in which we caught occasional glimpses of the bar, resplendent with carving and gilding, we reached a small, comfortably furnished room, the very atmosphere of which seemed to be charged with " sport." On the mantlepiece was a stuffed bull-terrrier in a glass-case, with a legend setting forth his apocryphal doings in the rat-killing way ; above that again was a surprising work of art in which all the colors of the rainbow had been lavished upon the representation of a celebrated "finish" for the Derby, whilst round the walls the portraits of English scullers and American trotters alternated with those of various ornaments of the prizering, preparing in the most exemplary pugilistic attitudes to do battle with nothing in particular. "My men will be here directly," said Walter, as, having looked at his -watch, he rang the bell and ordered a bottle of sherry ; and by the time a broken-nosed barman returned with the wine the expected persons had made their appearance. Evidently both of the " horsy" genus, they nevertheless presented a widely different aspect. The bigger of the two, who was unmistakeably a son of Abraham, was wheezy of voice and fleshy of face ; his dress was of ultra fashionable and horsy cut, and the coarseness of his dirty red hands was enhanced by the numerous cheap rings which bedizened his fingers. The other was a low-sized, wiry man, with hard, square features, small, piercing eyes, and a twist in the corner of his wide, thin-lipped mouth as if he carried a straw in it. " Aw'll take a drop o' gin hot," said the latter, in a strong Yorkshire accent, when asked what he would take. "Aw didn't think 'at yo'd a brought anybody wi yo' t'neet !" " Oh, it doesn't matter I" said Walter — " this is a friend of mine, who is just as safe as myself." "De — lighted to see any friend of yours, Mishter Addison," wheezed the other worthy, lighting a villainous cigar asjhe spoke. " I shuppose you've come prepared for us, eh ?" " Yes," said Walter, and, taking out his pocket-book, he handed each of them a small packet of notes. • " S'help me I" said the Jew, when he had counted his, "you've got the hinformation cheap — dirt cheap 1 Ain't he, Jem ?" The Yorkshireman did not answer until he had slowly counted his money over twice ; then, placing it in a greasy pocket-book, he squirted a stream of tobacco-juice from the corner of his mouth and sententiously ejaculated, " Worth foive tonnes t'brass 1" "Come, come!" said Walter with a laugh — " it's too late to talk about that, now ! The bargain's made 1 Now, Eaymond, we'll go upstairs and see a bit of sparring. That's the cause of the noise up there," he added, alluding to a mysterious snuffling and trampling which had been going on for some time over our heads. I now began to see that Walter was a much greener hand in sporting matters than I had supposed. • He had evidently been paying pretty smartly for whijt was in all probability a worthies* piece of information, and as we ascended the stairs I determined to .take the first opportunity of opening his eyes. Turn- • ing into a dark passage, we paused at a door, upon which Walter tapped in a peculiar manner. A sliding panel was immediately withdrawn, ancl, after a muttered colloquy with the guardian of the ' door-, it was cautiously opened, and we found ourselves in a large and, brilliantly-lighted room, in the centre of which was a space covered with saWr dust and fenced off with ropes. Within the enclosure two devotees of .the fistic art were pummelling each other. with.might and main, and on the benches round- the, walls sat a crowd of spectators, ranging in degree from the most .elaborately dressed " swell" to the-debased-looking creatures who formed the link between the * low-class pugilist and the thief pure and simple. " Why all this ( precaution ?" I whispered to Walter, a3 y we!took' our seats. " Sparring with gloves is not v against the law here, is it ?" „"No," he returned, "but these _men are using what are called 'skin gloves,' which afford scarcely any! projection! from the blows. An encounter with them is virtually a prizefight, so there is a possibility of the pplice interfering," and, aVthilt very moment, as if to illustrate his 'mean^, one of the combatants' was* knocked down by.^a'Jblow whiclr sounded, upon his battered', c'6unfe)ian(&)^ If it had been deal^witb, the naked" fisti-'/ 1 "' l y > I felt', somewhat Jisgu^'djjfpr^thppigh^rM' unacquainted with the' | pugilistic/ m'jfsterV

bakmts sprang out of the ling, tlio spectator jdiiipcd down from their benches, and a coniusecl rush was made for the door at the other end of the room. Carried along by the press, I lost sight of Walter, and found myself hustled helplessly down a flight of stairs leading to the back of the house. Presently wo came to a small door ; it was burst open ; the human stream poured out and scattered, and I found myself in a narrow passage, apparently leading from one street to another. Ignorant of the locality, I turned in the wrong- direction, and reached what soon turned out to be a dangerous neighbourhood. A narrow street, with mean, dingy houses, and suspicious looking forms hovering furtively about the corners of the numerous lanes which led off on cither side. "A villainous looking place!" I said to myself as I turned to retrace my steps ; but, before I had gone many yards, I found myself confronted by two dark figures. "Can you give me a light, sir?" came from one of them, but I was on my guard, and ready for the rush which followed before I could reply. One of the men I avoided altogether, and dealt the other a blow in the chest which staggered him. "Oil! that's your sort, is it?" he cried savagely, as he recovered himself. "Come on,' Bob, and, we'll settle his hash for him ! '" 1 cast a rapid glance aiound ; not a feoul was in sight but my two antagonists — both men of nearly my own size — and, after a rapid interchange of blows, I received a stroke on the head which staggered me; but, just as the fellows were closing up, a crashing blow sent one of them to the ground like a clod. The other immediately took to his heels ; and, turning round, I saw beside me a powerfully built man of middle size, with bowed legs and disproportionately long arms. "Thank you, my friend," I said. "That was a timely blow. Will you help mo to give this fellow in charge ?" " No, sir — no," was the unexpected reply. " If I have done you any service, I ask you to requite'it by letting the man go," and, before I could answer, the thief settled the matter himself by scrambling to his feet and running away. I " That decidas it," I said. " I think your request a strange one, but, nevertheless, I am ! much beholden to you for your assistance. I am a comparative stranger in Melbourne." ■ "So I supposed. Let me put you in your way again." ' "I have seen you before," I said, as we passed a lamp and the light revealed my companion's features. " Were you not in the sparring-room just now?" " I was, and I saw you there ; I suppose you missed your friend in the crush." " Yes, blit I shall scon find him again. May I offer you any money ?" I added, with some hesitation, for, though my rescuer's broad shoulders' were clad only in st rough pea4acket, and his head in a rough fur cap, his language was that of an educated person, and his physiognomyjiad struck me in the boxing-room as being that of no common man. "Thank you — no," he returned briefly. " There's your way ; good night!" I found Walter looking out for me in front of the hotel. "I was beginning to feel anxious about you," he said, "for there were a good many rough characters about. You didn't think we had this sort of thing in Melbourne, eh?" I did not answer immediately, for I was divided between my good wishes for the speaker and my dislike to anything in the way of "preaching." R;" Do you approve of ' this sort of thing,' Walter?" I asked at last. "Of prizefighting, for instance ?" " Well, no ; I can't say I do. But you don't think there's any harm in learning how to use one's fists, do you?" " Certainly not ! I can do a little in that way myself ; nor is it many minutes since I found the knowledge useful." "By Jove!" said Walter, when I had briefly described my recent adventure; " there's a case in point, you see." < " Yes, J don't deny it. But such an exhibition as we witnessed to-night can do no possible good, and it would be bettor to remain ignorant of the ' noble art ' than to acquire it among such debasing surroundings. Then thcie is another thing I wish to speak to you about, if you will forgive me for lecturing, and pub it down to the interest I take in you." " Speak plainly," said Waltei'. " I am ready to be guided by your advice." " You cannot be guided by it in this instance, unfortunately, for tho harm is already done. I refer to the money you paid those two scoundrels for the ' tip.' " " Why, Raymond 1" laughed Walter, " that is not like you — to put men down as scoundrels solely on the score of their looks." "No," I admitted, "it is not like me; but my impression is all the more strong on that account. May I ask what you paid them ?" " Fifty each !" " Thrown away !"' "If I thought so," began Waller— " if I thought they were deceiving mo" — " You could do nothing !" I put in. " They would say they were deceived themselves." "So they would, no doubt ! Well, never mind; I have no fears about the matter. Have a weed ?" "'Lucrezia Borgia' to-morrow night," I. said, looking at the bill on the gate of the Opera-house, opposite which we had stopped to light our cigars. "My favorite opera ! Will you come and hear it ?" " Yes, if you wish. Perhaps the Count and the signorina would come too." " I'll ask them when I get back." " Very good. ' And, by-thc-way, I think you had better turn back ngw to catch your train. I'll come out to Cintra to-morrow afternoon."