BOWLED! OUT.

Otago Witness, Issue 1957, 23 May 1889, Page 25

BOWLED! OUT.

(Licensed Victuallers' Gazjette.) \ Harry A,nsell kept a well«kijovra sporting tavern, yclept Ye Maid and..Magpie* in the Farringdon road; Harry was a bft of a sport himself. He had been a pro. both at running and swimming; and npw, besides'his pub.-L* which was sharply looked after, by his wife, a buxom Sheenie, who was as artful as her" , dad; which is saying a. good deal, for all the Sheenies round Houndsditch would* always acknowledge, that old Levt,Marks could do them> all at .a deal-T-Ifany travelled the meetings. And when the, clua, time came round he would combine profit with' pleasure by looking out for some likely novice, and backing Jama against some wellrknown runner or walker or swimmer; and as Harry hardly ever, made, a mistake, and,"also as good odds would, usually Jt>e laid /againafc II Ansell's, Novice," why, Harry gained both kudos and coin by .the game, ■, . When Harry .took' Ye Maid and 'Magpie* among the young fellows w,ho used the house were two brothers, twins, named ,Tom«and Walter Cullen. And they 'w.ere, so much alike that .you couldn't tell t'othV from which, unless you found them together, and even, then, as they always dressed alike, yon would,pften have to wait until one addressed the other by name before you felt sure you were right. ,i ■ But the?©, eventually occurred.^ little incident which led them to dress,', differently. One night I looked in., at; the Mogul for an ho,ur, I planted myself in > the stalls, and lookjag around I found, myself next to-Torn Cullen and the girl he was keeping company with—Jenny Harmer., So of ,cbnrse we had a drink and a bit of chaff together. I left the Mogul at % and went round—after waiting an hour, or. nearly so—to Ye Maid and Magpie for a game pf dominoes, in, Harry's snug parlour. What /was my surprise on entering the room, to see Tom, Cullen there before me, and playing, nine card dominoes with old Charlie,Pearce. "•HuJlp,,TomP says I, "you and Jenny soon g<jt sick of the Mogul; or did !you gefc rowing, and Gas Leach had you ehncked * I'm Tom," says b^ " but i ain't been to no Mogul to-night.. What,do you mean 1 D'je mean to tell me that Jenny's there witb Walter? Eh?" ' /;,rf Lord*how he flared.up., I .knew at once that I'd put my foot in it^. and. that it was Walter wjia was with Jenny. So <I t tried to pass ii off as, a joke; but he wouldn't have % and ewore he'd, go to the Mogul and see, and if Walter was there with the wenoh he'd kill him, And off he went,,,,,. , . When he'd gone I told the other chaps that I really had seen Wajtegrtftncl Jenny there, and had really taken hin\.|pj^Fom. " Well," said Freddy White, ,&pj had all better go and see what happen^,; maybe we'll be there in time to prevent ?miachief." When we got to the hall the people were just coming out.,, Tom was standing in the enfcran.ee> and was furious. - We tried to pacjiy him, and I asked,him to lend me his atiok-i-a tbipk cane loaded with lead. Bui it was no go. Presently Waiter and Jenny came put. Walter was only wearing a helmet cloth cap. Torn raised his cane, said," Take that, you beauty 1" and struck Walter on the skull a blow that felled him as a butcher's pojeaxe does an ox. , , .. „/> . Jennyscreamed," Oh, Walter,,youfve killed Tom.!-" „,:...</ v-- . ..r.i->-'•;*. I tumbled ta the siioaiion at one*. Jenny

1 'iaa 1 evidently' met Walter arid addressed him a* Tom, arid Walter had'-not undeceived her, and had taken her to the' Mogul for a lark. Some' of the fellows hustled Tom down the , lane tod round into Great Wild- street, arid got him away before '& copper could nab him, while Freddy White' and I and the' wench' put Walter into a cab and 1 drove with him to ' Bart's.' On the way I questioned the' wench, and found that my srirmise was. true. When Walter's wound had" been dressed,and pronounced not dangerous— which shows what a thick chump he must have had — we • all went and- found Tcm and explained,matters satisfactorily to him, and as soon as he ■ was allowed^ to' see his' brother in *the h'o'sjjitArth'eymadeit'UpallTight. .-<<' i ■ • • Walter was out in' a week, but he'll farfy the. mark of that blow to the day of his ' death, for, where the doctors had to clip his hair off to get aH the wound, tho thatch never grew again— there's a white, bald patch there almost as big as < the -'top of a quart pot.' But they always dressed different after that. ' Well; both* these fellows could. walk bit, and'HarryAnsell took them in hand. But lie 'found that they neither had speed nor staying power} so he soon dropped, them. They couldn't do much over* six milps hour, and they tired at 20, and after Harry had been at Ye Maid and Magpie about 18 months they left the neighbourhood, t • One afternoon last March Harry was'sittinp in the bar, chatting with a few of us, -when who should walk in but one of the Oullens. " Hullo;" said Harry, M which of you is it ? Take off your hat and let's haye a look at •your chump. We can tell which is which now by the thatch." ' ' The chap took off his hat, and sure enough , it was Tom. He stood drinks round', .and presently I said : *? l Well, Tom, do you do any walking now ? " " Rather," said he. " Why, I can do, eight • miles an hour now, and stay like a donkey. Both I and Walter have improved wonderful" ' * ' "Who are you a-kidding off "'put in Harry. " You two improve 1 Why, didn't I Eut yon in the charge of old Joe West, and c couldn't get an extra ounce out of either of ypu. You improve ? Ah ! ah I " ' ' Tom's face flushed up. j ""I- tell you," said he, " that I can do eight miles an hour, and keep it up for hours— on the road, too." "On the road f " said Harry. "Yes; on the road." ' • , "Well," said Harry, •• I'll tell you what I'll do with you. If you can find a backer I'll wager £50 that you can't make the best of ybur way from 1 here to Brighton Chain Pier in 10 hours. And I'll allow you an extra half-h dtir to have a rest, a rub down, pnd a toack at your uncle's at Orawley. Why, you never could do more than six miles an hour, or 1 last for more than 20. And you jdidn't even, do that. Didn'fc I twice back you to walk 20 miles, and each time you fainted in the last half mile 1 And now you're 10 years older. Bosh!" , "Well, I don't know if I can find a backer," said Tom, " but I'll try." "All. right," said Harry, "and my £50 is always on hand." •■ And there the subject dropped. After a While I said: ■ ' 1 ** Tom, where's Walter now ?v? v He gave a sudden start, and a curious ■ glitter came into his eyes as he answered : " Otyhe's on a job in the North of Irelanc[; fitting up a new church organ— \W,e are organ-builders, you know. He's in charge of the job, and won't be back for the next ; air months." '■ And after another drink or two away he went. ' ' ' About a fortnight afterwards we were all in the bar, as nsual, when in walks Topi and a stout man whom he introduced as Mr John Ward, and who was willing to back him. After some discussion it was agreed to sign articles and deposit' stakes. Accordingly, iiexfc day this was done. When the eventful day arrived Harry h&d all readyfor his party. And a rare lot there Was of us. ' There was a rare "mob likewise to see the start. Tom went off at a sharp Walk, his backer and trainer driving beside •him in a 1 light gig. When we got over to Brixton Hill Tom began to run, and he alternately walked or ran, pulling up now and then for a mouthful of jelly or a little , sherry and egg, all the way until we reached Orawley, and he entered his uncle's house for his rub-down. ' As we" could see his uncle's house from the George, this was a convenient affair for all concerned. • But Harry Ansell and some others o£ our party began to look a bit glum, and I felt a bit doubtful of the result. Trusting to Ansell's undoubted knowledge of what Tom could do, we had bet heavily ton 'the reault, and Harry had gone a mker. Here was Tom going as well as ever, 'barring such stiffness aa a bath and a good rub-down would remove; and this was the cfeap who couldn't formerly do -even ;20 miles on a cinder track 1 Why, before we started that morning Harry had laughingly said that ■' Tonr.would 'never reach Eeigate ou his feet, and that we should have to give him a lift on to the George to give him his dinner, And Tom's party were gleefully jolly and offering odds on him without finding ne'er a backer. • Well, Tom soon came out, and with a clear hour in hand started afresh. That bath and rub-down had done him good. It was extraordinary how the chap had improved in the 10 years that he had been away. ■ When we reached- Preston Park he still ha* that hour ahead, and we reckoned our brass as good as gone: But a change waa at hand. ! "Wfe had just got thrdugh the railway arch wKln Tom tripped over a stone and fell. 1 I ' happened just before to get out of our trap to fctretoh my cramped legs, and was running behind, holding on to a strap. Before any one could get out of hia backer's trap to :assist him I was beside him. But he was .-already up, and, holding his hand on his •head, was looking for his cap, "Oh, blow the cap," said Ward, his ibacker. 11 Oh, but I must have it," said Tom. "Jump down, Bill," said Ward to Tom's itrainer, " and help him find hig <up." - And half a dozen of their -crowd were in ithe road in a jiffy. But 1 didn't look for his ■cap> not me I ' Independent of the fact that ■delay was our only chance of winning — an<J i .provided that we bad the luok to be delayed-

-aigb going ' through the. town" X had been struck by the fact that it was curious, Vary, that Tom, who had fallen on his hands and 1 kn'ees,>nd whose , hea4 had' never, even touched ;.the ground.'sho'dld'sq persisteniily keep ( his hand to his head, as if;fie had been hurt ihere. ,'" ' , ; A strange, suspicion entered my min^, and, getting behind .tjirn on the quiet, I awaited events. , ; . , •>.■!, < j Ab last his cap, was found and handed to him. 1 ' As he took away his hand I saw enough. .'..,!.; ,r. ■ " Harry," I yelled, "the w.hole, affair is a [swindle; we left Tom behind "at Orawley. This is Walter!' Come, here aiid look for ■ yourself," and I snatcHed •' the cap from' off ; Wafer's head.' ,' , Bfarry and the rest were, round .Walter in a ' second. As soon as he saw thai well-known bald white patch he. shouted : : "Some of you hold Ward's horse,' and somebody else hold him. Come, 1 here, sir, if you please," to the referee. . ' < Then there was a pretty to-do. Ward and Bill, Tom's and Walter's trainers, showed fight, but were soon overpowered* "and handed over to the police. , " When we got to Crawley, »ure enough, ,%» found Master Tom in bed. 'When he saw the coppets he knew the game, was lip, arid, owned every thing. It appeared, it was my unlucky inquiry as to Walter's,' whereabouts.which put the idea into his noddle. As a matter of fact both lads had improved, but only a little. Ward was a welshing bookie, and reckoned, when the idea was explained to biny that 'he'd got & good thing on— as, indeed, he would have had' if Walter; hadn't dropped his pap 1 and I'had been in our break instead of in the rbad. " " '