COL. ANSTRUTHER THOMSON 3 



wheelers tumbled down, and all four horses disap- 

 peared under the coach. One of them screamed 

 like a dying hare. There was nothing visible but 

 the point of the pole and our toes at the edge of the 

 footboard. The 17th Lancers' coach was close be- 

 hind us. They pulled up, all jumped down, seized 

 the wheels and pulled the coach back, and nothing 

 was broke except a tirret trodden off one of the 

 leaders' collars. " Niggerboy " had a few scratches, 

 where the others had trodden on him. 



Fortunately Henry Montgomery appeared in an 

 open cab, so he took Mrs. Thomson with him and 

 went on to the races. A 'bus with three horses over- 

 took us. The driver pulled up and said, " Hullo, 

 Captain, what's the matter? " I said, " We've broke 

 our pole. You have two, you might lend us one." 

 He said, " What shall I do with one pole and three 

 horses?" Mr. Croal then arrived in a orio- and said, 

 " By all means lend the Captain a pole, and you go 

 on with two horses ". Mr. Croal was standing on the 

 road by his gig, when a fellow with an American 

 trotter came down the road about twenty miles an 

 hour, caught the wheel of the gig, and turned it right 

 upside down. " Where the h — 11 are you coming to ? " 

 " Why the devil don't you get out of the way ? " — and 

 went on without stopping. We got the pole belong- 

 ing to the 'bus, but it was rather too large, so we 

 borrowed a kitchen chopper at a public house, and 

 pared it down to fit, and set sail again, and I got to 

 the races in good time. 



About 20th October, Charles Hewitt, Henry 



