70 SOLDIER AND SPORTSMAN 



chosen by his lordship as a model for the statue 

 erected in commemoration to this crreat soldier in 

 Calcutta. 



Under all the above circumstances I was sur- 

 prised to read in Sir George Arthur's memoirs that 

 while in Cyprus K. of K. acted as whip to a pack 

 of hounds. On an Arab mare, which he had 

 brought from Sophia, and which he himself trained, 

 he actually won the steeplechase at Nicossin in 

 1882. The cup which he here carried off was such 

 a treasured trophy that it was seldom missing from 

 his lordship's dinner-table in Calcutta, Cairo or 

 London. 



Lord Kitchener was not a society man, and dis- 

 liked ballroom antics, looking as uncomfortable 

 there as he did on a horse. I believe the Press did 

 not forget to dilate on his dancing, which perforce 

 he had to indulge in when opening a State ball. 



Recalling an incident of a similar situation, it is 

 said that a high cleric, when visiting Sandringham, 

 was commanded by the Queen to open a servants' 

 ball. The parson's son was an eye-witness. 

 Knowinor his father's dislike to such unaccustomed 

 frivolities, he remarked to a friend : " Just look at 

 dad, he must be in awful agony. No doubt he 

 wishes he was in his old pulpit." To which the 

 friend replied : " Surely his dancing can't be worse 

 than his preaching." 



