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In "A Fisher of Men" in Dr. Thorndyke's Case-Book by R. Austin Freeman, Dr. Jervis was digging the earth with his friend, while they saw a stranger man coming along the path, then that man was for the moment hidden from them by a bend of the path and a near clump of bushes.

At this moment the stranger reappeared, walking as if for a wager, and I began to peck up the earth with my pocket-knife.

I searched for its meaning, but I didn't find anything that I can understand in this context!

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Competitive walking, known as ‘pedestrianism’, was the forerunner of today’s walking races. Per Wikipedia:

Pedestrianism was a 19th-century form of competitive walking, often professional and funded by wagering, from which the modern sport of racewalking developed.

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  • Thank you, that makes more sense. So he was walking as if in competitve walking that some people bet on it? @Spagirl
    – Ahmed Samir
    Sep 11 '20 at 22:31
  • 1
    That is correct.
    – Spagirl
    Sep 12 '20 at 10:57

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