ot surprise me to find _Windgall_ the best
of the Baron's on the day.

There are several horses spoken of as "rods in pickle," but as a
rule, these animals stop at "rods" and never get to "poles" much less
"perches!" Should Sir JAS. MILLER win the race, the town may resound
with many a merry _Joedel_, but this is trying weather for voices,
though I believe he is running untried, but certainly trying! There
was some doubt as to the starting of a great favourite, owing to a
report that the owner had been "forestalled"--an excuse which always
sounds very weak to me, as surely if outsiders can back a horse at
a long price, the owner should also be able to do so, and thus put
backers "in the cart"--where _some_ of them would present a picture
which might lead people to think the "cart" was on its way to Tyburn!
There appears to be considerable doubt as to whether _Buccaneer_ has
eaten anything lately or not, so I must discard him; but I think if he
were given a sherry and bitters at once he might recover his appetite
and win, as he is known to be a "glutton" for work! JEWITT's best
will take some beating, when we know which it is, which we shall do
shortly, as no stable is more ready than this to let everyone into
the secret of their "good things;", so if some _Whisperer_, should
tell you that his _Suspender_ is broken, it is on the cards that the
_Pensioner_ may still be able to walk home in safety! But enough
of this (as your readers will doubtless say!)--and let us come to
the point as the knife said to the pencil--so I will conclude by
recommending a "maximum" on my choice, and as it is a foreign one, I
must necessarily break out into foreign poetry--(just as easy to--),

Yours devotedly,

LADY GAY.

CAMBRIDGESHIRE SELECTION.

Le type le plus "noir" dans le monde,
Le nomme, on dit, Le Chouan!
Mais, roule au dessous de l'onde,
Devient "Blanc" comme _Kairouan_!

* * * * *

TO ASTRAEA.

(_WHO WOULD HAVE ME SHOW HER MY HAND._)

[Illustration]

Too pretty Palmist, oh, refrain,
Nor thus my Destinies importune
To bare the map of trite and plain
Misfortune.

Methinks, that I, sweet sorceress,
Whose weird persuasions fascinate us,
Can read my stars without express
Afflatus.

"_I'm o'er ambitious_"--more than true;
To fail, the lot of clever men 'tis.
Who's _not_ a genius in his two-
And-twenties.

(_Yo