The Honourable Salter put it into words: Fitz, he said, do you think theyll let us get to the club alive in these hats?. The Trooper: Bottomless lunch - See 1,754 traveler reviews, 297 candid photos, and great deals for Wall, UK, at Tripadvisor. He never hit him with it, and after a while Sensation would swing along without taking any more notice of the stick than a polo pony takes of a polo mallet. Arrived in Australia, the inhabitants of that country got the thousand pounds away from him in about half no time, and rather than ask for help, the young fellow applied for, and got, a position as probationary trooper in the Queensland Mounted Police. Chapter 7. Ive been away out where the nigger minstrels come from, and I havent seen a paper or heard a word of news. So we formed a syndikit and bought a racecourse just a few miles out of town. I hope the Countess is well. Well, Ill say this for trainers: theres very few of them drink; but every owner thinks his horse has wings on his legs and a Rolls-Royce engine in his inside, and the trainer darent deny it or hell lose the horse.. He had vague thoughts of how easy it would be to grab a pile of notes, double up the doorkeeper and make for the great open spaces. I knew that feller when he hadnt got a bob and Ill know him when he hasnt got a bob again. I lived with him, lived hard, too, until I was sixteen and then I cleared out and got a job on the mines at Charters Towers. Id rather like to have a crack at this Chinaman. I was wondering what he was doing here., The boy says that Sandbag is the only man that can handle this horse, said Bismarck, and theyll get leave for Sandbag to hold him at the post in the race to-day. But a dab of Maggies knife into the fat had revealed that the tins were full of plates, knives, and forks covered over with fat. That Chow might get after the horse and Id sooner hed poison me than poison the horse. So if you want to see life, nows your chance. Hes got so much money that if he got out of the charge hed have the jacket off me for undue violence. And we want you to take some shares. I paid him five hundred he won over the Australian horse. Luckily for Nancy Bell, her pedigree was full of the blood of Fishermanthat wonder of the English turf who was never really going at his best until he had run a mile. But they ave very long minites in Australia you know.. She gave one of the stationhands a gun and some cartridges and told him to get a couple of wild duck, and she sent down to the blacks camp to say that she would give it big feller nobbler to any black who could catch her a Murray cod. It seemed to him that everybody looked upon him as a sort of natural advice-taker, and it was time to resent it. Ill shut im up. Sylvester made a game effort to answer the whip but he was hopelessly outpaced and Snowfire ran home an easy winner. Id rather listen to two thousand cash than to all the tips in the world. Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our. Why worry? I didnt get his horse left at the posteyeing his secretary meanwhile as though he blamed him for everything. I knew a little bloke named Flash Jack; was out on bail for pinchin a horse, and he went down to the police-station and pinched the horse out of their yard and they never saw him or the horse again. As a rule he just glanced at his letters and handed them either to the Empire Pastoral Company or the wastepaper basket. Fitzroy pulled his horse up and dismounted at some distance from the crowd, and it was just as well that he did so. When they came into the dining-room Maggie was pleased to see that the ex-shearer was staggered by the magnificence of his surroundings. That parade ring has a strong picket fence round it, and Ill put a guard of bluejackets three deep all round the fence., But thats no good, interrupted the trainer. Im the biggest shareholder in the Daybreak Reef, and I can afford to buy good grub. Thats the code word for Jimmy. As one of the johnnies put it: These chaps that back outsiders always have something wrong with them.. As he walked past them, Bismarcks roving eye lit with approval on the young lady, then he stopped and had a second look at Fitzroy. Fitzroy and me have just come down for a fly round. Now, if I sent them to Sydney I ought to get a thousand guineas for the Silver Star colt on account of his relations, and I ought to get five hundred for the big fellow. Crusaders trainer disconnected his telephone to avoid answering inquiries as to whether the horse would be fit to run on the following Saturday. After the days racing the party split up, Fitzroy being carried off by the Honourable Psalmsey to the aides quarters at Government House. A small man, he seemed to be all top hat and eye-glass, but Fitzroy had no difficulty in recognizing an old undergraduate friend in the Honourable Algernon Salter, better known in the University as Psalmsey, owing to the way in which the word Psalter is spelt on the cover of the hymn-book. Next morning Charley Stone reported to the great panjandrum of the Empire Pastoral Company, Mr Frost by namea grey-faced old gentleman with gimlet eyesand gave an account of his stewardship. I booked a table at The Wine House to celebrate my husband's birthday. A few weeks ago we were prepared to book but then the weather was dreadful. Father says that the racecourses are full of people who like to show off and tell everybody the winner and when their certainty gets beaten they say it was pulled. He dared not ask him to dine at Government House itself, lest the other guests should be offended at being asked to sit down with an ex-policeman. Say, guy, he said, you mightnt know it, but deres not two horses in de woild could do dat. Chapter 5. By the way, talking of that, I have a daughter away on a visit at Saltbush Downs, just alongside the place youre going to. Black firemen from the China coast were betting in Mexican dollars; Arabs were digging into their voluminous clothing and producingof all thingssovereigns hoarded since the days when the British Army was in Egypt. Having the Irish sympathy for the under dog, Moira threw her hat into the ring and spoke without choosing her words. Sit down, guy, they said, and have a shot of the curse of China. Connie waltzed with her trainer and the air was thick with hats. This attack on Fitzroy was front-page stuff, and many a weary stone-hand who had hoped to get home early, found himself in for the job of making up extra editions till daylight. Another thing, he wont be able to get good jockeys, for the princes of the pigskin stick to the big stables, and a small trainer has to go to them on all fours and give away the whole circus, before they will even consider riding one of his horses. From him, however, they got lots of civility but no free tickets. Then you and Monkey can come down to the end of the reed-beds to-night and well split up the stuff and scatter three different ways. That red fellow is easy money for any woman. Every now and again the mare would give him a friendly look from one of her liquid brown eyes and rub her head against him. Entering the box, he felt along the wall till he found a flashlight torch that was kept on a shelf ready for emergencies at night. I thought so, said the old man. In the next few weeks a tide of visitors flowed into London from all countries of the world, lured by the attraction of the great international series of horse-races. I always liked that Musket-St Simon cross. Hes lost enough face now to cover the side of a woolshed. A certain American lady tennis-player has been described as little poker face. She had nothing on Miss Fysshe. Would totally recommend this restaurant to anyone will be visiting again very soon, Bottomless brunch with a group for a birthday celebration. And now look where I am. The other two slouched down as though they had not a care in the world and Bill the Gunner, restored to jockeyship, amused himself by pretending to whip Sensation while moving at a walk. Without hesitation he pulled out his card bearing the name of a very exclusive club and handed it over, scribbling on it Introducing Mr Dickson of Australia. n Here you are, old chap. One man alone might have puzzled an expert. Thats the mines did that, he said. Food was good, but the staff were great, especially Matthew who was attentive, caring and went the extra mile to ensure we had a good time! By the time Ive drunk a cup of concentrated ox with im, Ill know more about im than you knowand youve ad three weeks start on me.. Except for his springy wrestlers walk and the mat of black hair on the backs of his hands, he gave no indication of the strength that enabled him, as a probationary constable, to go single-handed into the haunts of the razor gang and bring out their best man, carrying him in his arms as a shearer carries a sheep. There is an old suit of armour here which I daresay they would lend you. They never took their eyes or their minds off the horses. This was the sort of talk he was used to, and he felt like the Admirals servant who told the Admiral that he wished to leave the service, whereupon the Admiral said: What will a double-distilled fool like you do for a living if he leaves the service? And the servant went back to his mates and told them that he couldnt think of leaving after the Admiral had spoken to him so friendly. But about a month afterwards he wrote me that the church had been struck by lightning and would I send another fifty. Have you got any men you can trust?, Too right, I have, said Red Fred, Ive got one anyhow. Buckleys chance, the way his luck is. I thought Magee owned him., No, George, I own him, or rather did own him. But youve got to bet like a rat to make a big book. He at once set to work to establish the attitude of superiority which is essential to all successful battling, whether on the turf, in politics, or on the Stock Exchange. A strike may mean that the sheep will have to be let go, to shed their wool all over the paddocks, so when the shearers demanded to see the owner instead of the proper authority, the station manager, a messenger was sent off hot-foot after Red Fred. He felt rather like a trainer who had been accustomed to look after a Derby winner and now had to take charge of a Clydesdale. Do you think a man could buy him?. Waal, he knew, hed been racing but ah never noticed that he stopped none., Say, Eli, that track here is measured wrong. Connie shortly afterwards married a titled husband who beat her, and thus conformed fairly well to her ideas of what a husband ought to be. Therell be a lot of people killed, and the horse will go mad. Now, this thing ereSnowfire, he went on, turning over his book and dropping his voice, to the discomfiture of some loiterers who appeared to be enlarging their ears in an effort to hear what was said, this thing ere Snowfire belongs to a mate o mine, and we gave im a run with your orse and it made the big feller stretch out to beat him. Thats what he likes. Before the captain could enlarge on this subject His Excellency rose and the party broke up. This was a hurdle race, and as soon as the scratching time had expired the bookmakers got up on their stands and started to roar the odds. The cry of Fight! Every photographer in London was rung up from his slumbers, to see if by any chance he had a snapshot of the Newmarket Lodge party at the races. Take two to one was the cry. One of the semi-viceregal sisters started the trouble by saying: I dont suppose you backed the winner, Mr Carstairs?. This resulted in the shelving of the Lobster to a staff job, where he collected all available medals and came home. Some days Ill put in an hour talkin to him and rubbin him about the head. Were going to start off our first meetin with a bang. Mr Manasses looked very hard at Fitzroy. Our waitress Poppy Owen was super polite, friendly and went out of her way to make our visit a special experience! So far from resenting these crudities, the ex-shearer visibly brightened up. His Excellency knew that the semi-viceregal sister had a tongue of her own and might resent the trainers remarks in a regrettable way, so he hastened to take charge of the proceedings. And just as you got back you fell over a calf asleep in the grass and you had to go back again. They thought and talked about nothing but racehorses; and they soon gathered round them a large circle of friends who also thought and talked about nothing but racehorses. When men have been cooped up together for weeks, as Red Fred and Fitzroy had been, they are apt to get on each others nerves. But these horses can make so much money in their own countries that their owners wont spend a lot of money to come over here and perhaps get beaten. Of our party of visitors, Fitzroy and the Honourable Captain Salter were the two who really sensed the importance of doing in London as London does. But Jim says you cant beat the ring. His bull-like voice rang over the tumult: Four to one on the field, four to one on the field! My wife and sons had the burgers, again nothing special; we would have been better to go to McDonalds and had a better meal and saved myself a lot of money!! Have you had to carry Red Fred lately? The Government House party then took their departure, without having had a chance to ask any questions about the stable two-year-old, leaving the trainer, the owner, his secretary, and Charley Stone to discuss the campaign. Hardly says anything. I want you to be a kind of offsider to me, he said. Thats the way to talk. Even Connie, who was fond of saying that she would not bet on the sun rising, secretly rang up Mr Manasses and told him to put a hundred pounds on Crusader for her in the mile-and-a-quarter race on the second day. Let your cove ride him to-morrow and Bill can ride him on Saturday. We want you to sign an agreement not to race your orse anywhere else until youve raced him with us. Hes a cheese champion dis Australian hoss, he said. The two last Internationals. Instead, she tiptoed up the yard after the Chinaman and hit him a polthogue over the head with the rolling-pin. Following, as usual, the line of least resistance, Red Fred went and put a hundred on Snowfire at six to one and then, with a sinking heart, he rejoined the Government House party. For instance he gave forty guineas for an unfashionably-bred, ungainly yearling which afterwards, under the name of Masterpiece, won forty thousand pounds in stakes. The horse is worth ten thousand. that was us they continued to ask the other groups if that was their booking name even though I said THATS MY NAME . But I said no, if Providence likes to bust up its own buildings, I aint going to interfere., But now Im going to tell you something. My names Dickson, Dickson of Australia I call myself because there are so many other Dicksons. Ill introduce you to Jim Frazer, if you like. Did you ever work a drill?, Well, dont do it, unless youve got to. Fight! brought all hands on the run. Dominic and Ramon and Jimmy the Pat still attended all the morning gallops, weighing up the chances and waiting their time to strike. Had a three course & each one topped the other. Whadda you think we are? Fight! was drowned in another shout of Fire! Shrewd racing men whose acquaintance he had made at the meetings advised him not to try to win too much money at once, for there were ways and means of fixing a favourite that threatened to take too much money out of the ring. The bosss enormously valuable old Irish silver was strewn about the room in any place where there was room for it, and gold and silver racing trophies glittered on mantelpiece and sideboard. But my countlyman, he blong hatchet-man Tong, longa China. I couldnt pick a winner in a field of one. Will close now and finish this letter when we settle down. And do you suggest, Mr Fitzroy, he said, that I would ask a man like Fred here, a man that has shorn for me, to pay a thousand pounds for a horse worth nothing! It had banked up and was running the wrong way. Enjoy a three tier stand of finger sandwiches, cakes and scones with jam & clotted cream. There was one from the General Manager of the Empire Pastoral Company protesting against the detention of one of their most valued clients on a ridiculous charge. If you step on my feet Ill crack you on the jaw.. When the barrier lifted, Sensation was pulled back last of the field of seven, and here he ran along at an easy swing while some of the leaders were taking a lot out of themselves, springing off the ground and throwing their heads about as a protest against the slow pace. Just to assert her importance, she relapsed into hysterics every two hours. I would never return or recommend it to anyone. Connie was equally intrigued and bewildered, for her literature consisted mostly of detective stories and here was a situation after her own heart. And he had a look at meI weighed fifteen stoneand he says: Perhaps youre right. And he pays his money and walks out. . Our waitress Poppy Owen was super polite, friendly We have just had a nice bottomless lunch. I wonder what hed want for him., No chance in the world, said Charley Stone. Not that I mean your horse is too big, Mr Carstairs; he must be one of these really good big ones. It did not need a Sherlock Holmes to deduce that the bag contained the days takings, or so much of them as had been collected up to that time, and the bag might contain anything from a hundred to two hundred pounds. You dont own Sensation! Its a duty Id owe to the world. It would never do that Connie Galbraith (to use her stage name) should be in obscurity, while the wretched amateur stewards were getting all the limelight. To use our mobile site, please enable JavaScript. Wont be returning at allMore, This is the version of our website addressed to speakers of English in the United States. Sensation was still the last and was giving as much as six or seven lengths to the leaders, and the trainers clicked their stop-watches just to see what pace the big horse could make over the last six furlongs. He was experiencing a bad attack of the blues, so when he found himself with nothing to do except supervise the sending out of huge cheques every settling-day it was hard to keep his self-respect. A discouraging thought, this, to those who tilt at the ring, for a backer cannot have much chance when a bookmaker can afford to pay ten per cent to get his business. In fact, Connies widowed mother had many a time been helped by one of the gigantic Jewish charities administered with marvellous efficiency by Mr Manasses. The bullock-team from Apsley Downs brought in a load of laughing humanity consisting of about six families down to the smallest baby. Fitzroy ducked under it and before any one could see how it happened he was kneeling on Mr Noall and trying to force his jaws open with one hand and to thrust a race-book into his mouth with the other. Whether or not the squatter would have parted with his hundred pounds will never be known. He is taking me to the police-station. lol. Im goin er find a lirrle trainer can keep his mouth shut, an Ill keepmymouth shut. Now, lets come down to tin tacks. I suppose you think I was tight last night. That feller gets my goat. Will be back soon !! Wearing these borrowed plumes and knowing exactly where to go, he visited some out-of-bounds places and arrested several wealthy Indian undergraduates; but he did not take any of his captives to the police-station. 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