CAPTAIN WARNER'S CLOSING SEASONS 141 



in the saddle and sending them along at the very 

 top of their speed. Every one gets as near to the 

 post as he can, and in the excitement of the moment 

 is heedless that he stands half up to the knees in 

 snow. Clear the road ! The horses seem to fly, 

 and in another second they sweep past the post. 

 Up go hats and caps, real hearty British yells rend 

 the air, and the race is over. 



" The twenty miles were done in fifty-five minutes 

 thirty seconds. This is a record that will not be easily 

 lowered. As far as Lord Lonsdale was concerned, 

 he had done everything that human foresight could 

 imagine. Both himself and his horses were trained 

 to the hour, and we may say that neither was in 

 the slightest degree tired or blown by their very 

 severe exertions. Harness and carriages combined 

 lightness and strength, and after the race was 

 over, when it is always easy to criticize and find 

 fault, it was impossible to see what more could 

 have been done to have made better time. The 

 roads after the snow were decidedly woolly, and in 

 places the wheels cut in deep ; this would, of 

 course, affect time. Then half a minute was lost 

 by a horseman being unable to pull his horse out 

 of the road, and quite as much when an over- 

 zealous policeman wanted to interfere. The feat 

 will go down to posterity as one of the finest per- 

 formances in the history of sport." 



Season 1891-1892 . 



There was a serviceable scent during cub- 

 hunting, and all three packs were able to blood 

 their young hounds, with the addition of good 



