"
Ginger took a half-sovereign from his pocket and handed it to the
bookmaker.
"I never take money over this bar. You're good for a thin 'un, sir,"
William said, with a smile, as he handed back the money.
"But I don't know when I shall see you again," said Ginger. "It will be
very inconvenient. There's no one in the bar."
"None but the match-seller and them two flower-girls. I suppose they don't
matter?"
Happiness flickered up through the old greyness of the face. Henceforth
something to live for. Each morning bringing news of the horse, and the
hours of the afternoon passing pleasantly, full of thoughts of the evening
paper and the gossip of the bar. A bet on a race brings hope into lives
which otherwise would be hopeless.
XXXI
Never had a Derby excited greater interest. Four hot favourites, between
which the public seemed unable to choose. Two to one taken and offered
against Fly-leaf, winner of the Two Thousand; four to one taken and
offered against Signet-ring, who, half-trained, had run Fly-leaf to a
head. Four to one against Necklace, the winner of the Middle Park Plate
and the One Thousand. Seven to one against Dewberry, the brilliant winner
of the Newmarket stakes. The chances of these horses were argued every
night at the "King's Head." Ketley's wife used to wear a string of yellow
beads when she was a girl, but she wasn't certain what had become of them.
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