reading during the evening prep period. After
he had read the book twice, he was confident that he had found a system which
would ensure that he always won. The following Wednesday he returned to the
racecourse, puzzled as to why his father hadn’t taken advantage of Lucky Joe’s
infallible method.
Keith cycled
home that night having parted with a whole term’s pocket money in one
afternoon. He refused to blame Lucky Joe for his failure, and assumed that he
simply hadn’t fully understood the system. After he had read the book a third
time, he realized his mistake. As Lucky Joe explained on page seventy-one, you
must have a certain amount of capital to start off with, otherwise you can
never hope to beat the bookie. Page seventy-two suggested that the sum required
was E 10, but as Keith’s father was still abroad, and his mother’s favorite
maxim was “neither a borrower nor a lender be,” he had no immediate way of proving
that Lucky Joe was right.
He therefore
came to the conclusion that he must somehow make a little extra cash, but as it
was against school rules to earn any money during term time, he had to satisfy
himself with reading Lucky Joe’s book yet again. He would have received “A”
grades in the end-of-term exams if How to Beat the Bookie had been the set
text.
Once term was
over, Keith returned to Toorak and discussed his financial problems with
Florrie. She told him of several ways that her brothers had earned pocket money
during their school holidays. After listening to her advice, Keith returned to
the racecourse the following Saturday, not this time to place a bet-he still
didn’t have any spare cash-but to collect manure from behind the stables, which
he shoveled into a sugar bag that had been supplied by Florrie. He then cycled
back to Melbourne with the heavy sack on his handlebars, before spreading the
muck over his relatives’ flowerbeds. After forty-seven such journeys back and
forth to the racecourse in ten days, Keith had pocketed thirty shillings,
satisfied the needs of all his relatives, and had moved on to their next-door
neighbors.
By the end of
the holiday he had amassed C3 7s. 4d. After his mother had handed over his next
term’s pocket money of a pound, he couldn’t wait to return to the racetrack and
make himself a fortune. The only problem was that Lucky Joe’s foolproof system
stated on page seventy-two, and repeated on page seventy-three: “Don’t attempt
the system with less than Elo.”
Keith would have
read How to Beat the Bookie a ninth time if his housemaster, Mr. Clarke, had
not caught him thumbing through it during prep. Not only was his dearest
treasure confiscated, and probably destroyed, but he had to face the
humiliation of a public beating meted out by the headmaster in front of the
whole school. As he bent over the table he stared down at Desmond Motson in the
front row, who was unable to keep the smirk off his face.
Mr. Clarke told
Keith before lights out that night that if he hadn’t intervened on his behalf,
Keith would undoubtedly have been expelled. He knew this would not have pleased
his father-who was on his way back from a place called Yalta in the Crimea-or
his mother, who had begun talking about him going to a university in England called
Oxford. But Keith remained more concerned by how he could convert his 0 7s. 4d.
into E 10.
It was during
the third week of term that Keith came up with an idea for doubling his money
which he felt sure the authorities would never latch on to.
The school tuck
shop opened every Friday between the hours of five and six, and then remained
closed until the same time the following week. By Monday morning most of the
boys had devoured all their Cherry Ripes, munched their way through several
packets of chips and happily guzzled countless bottles of Marchants’ lemonade.
Although they were temporarily sated, Keith was in no doubt that they still
craved more. He considered that, in these circumstances, Tuesday to
he had read the book twice, he was confident that he had found a system which
would ensure that he always won. The following Wednesday he returned to the
racecourse, puzzled as to why his father hadn’t taken advantage of Lucky Joe’s
infallible method.
Keith cycled
home that night having parted with a whole term’s pocket money in one
afternoon. He refused to blame Lucky Joe for his failure, and assumed that he
simply hadn’t fully understood the system. After he had read the book a third
time, he realized his mistake. As Lucky Joe explained on page seventy-one, you
must have a certain amount of capital to start off with, otherwise you can
never hope to beat the bookie. Page seventy-two suggested that the sum required
was E 10, but as Keith’s father was still abroad, and his mother’s favorite
maxim was “neither a borrower nor a lender be,” he had no immediate way of proving
that Lucky Joe was right.
He therefore
came to the conclusion that he must somehow make a little extra cash, but as it
was against school rules to earn any money during term time, he had to satisfy
himself with reading Lucky Joe’s book yet again. He would have received “A”
grades in the end-of-term exams if How to Beat the Bookie had been the set
text.
Once term was
over, Keith returned to Toorak and discussed his financial problems with
Florrie. She told him of several ways that her brothers had earned pocket money
during their school holidays. After listening to her advice, Keith returned to
the racecourse the following Saturday, not this time to place a bet-he still
didn’t have any spare cash-but to collect manure from behind the stables, which
he shoveled into a sugar bag that had been supplied by Florrie. He then cycled
back to Melbourne with the heavy sack on his handlebars, before spreading the
muck over his relatives’ flowerbeds. After forty-seven such journeys back and
forth to the racecourse in ten days, Keith had pocketed thirty shillings,
satisfied the needs of all his relatives, and had moved on to their next-door
neighbors.
By the end of
the holiday he had amassed C3 7s. 4d. After his mother had handed over his next
term’s pocket money of a pound, he couldn’t wait to return to the racetrack and
make himself a fortune. The only problem was that Lucky Joe’s foolproof system
stated on page seventy-two, and repeated on page seventy-three: “Don’t attempt
the system with less than Elo.”
Keith would have
read How to Beat the Bookie a ninth time if his housemaster, Mr. Clarke, had
not caught him thumbing through it during prep. Not only was his dearest
treasure confiscated, and probably destroyed, but he had to face the
humiliation of a public beating meted out by the headmaster in front of the
whole school. As he bent over the table he stared down at Desmond Motson in the
front row, who was unable to keep the smirk off his face.
Mr. Clarke told
Keith before lights out that night that if he hadn’t intervened on his behalf,
Keith would undoubtedly have been expelled. He knew this would not have pleased
his father-who was on his way back from a place called Yalta in the Crimea-or
his mother, who had begun talking about him going to a university in England called
Oxford. But Keith remained more concerned by how he could convert his 0 7s. 4d.
into E 10.
It was during
the third week of term that Keith came up with an idea for doubling his money
which he felt sure the authorities would never latch on to.
The school tuck
shop opened every Friday between the hours of five and six, and then remained
closed until the same time the following week. By Monday morning most of the
boys had devoured all their Cherry Ripes, munched their way through several
packets of chips and happily guzzled countless bottles of Marchants’ lemonade.
Although they were temporarily sated, Keith was in no doubt that they still
craved more. He considered that, in these circumstances, Tuesday to
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