59 



not tell me, as when he got up he saw about a million 

 mud walls all round him and about three thousand horses'" 

 hoofs, so I do not think it is quite easy to fix any one 

 fence in particular ! 



After jumping the last of the Bund country course 

 fences the line lay away to the right, heading back tow^ards 

 the Sandy Lane, and after rocketing over that brace of walls 

 we rode over some chases ago, and jumping another flight 

 of hurdles, they went for the old garden gates on the Sandy 

 Lane, and rattling through the jungle reached the open 

 country on the other side. Mr. Alston was still leading 

 with Laddie second, Saxonbury, Charity, Collard and 

 CoUard and the rest a bit behind. Jumping a bund and 

 a wall and bending right-handed, the course lay straight 

 for the railway crossing, and the two leading horses now 

 began to shove along in real earnest. As they crossed the 

 ' metals, ' Mr. Alston had the best of it by about a couple 

 of lengths, but Laddie, who seemed as fresh as when he 

 started, gamely ansv/ering Mr. Acworth's call, went up ta 

 Beacon and they raced at a pace wonderful to behold over 

 the next fence, a flight of hurdles. They then disappeared 

 for a moment behind the small mound of earth which 

 acted as a grand stand for the gallery, and on coming inta 

 view^ again at the second last hurdle Laddie was seen in 

 front, and he held Beacon safe from there to tlie end of the 

 journey. The general feeling was sorrow that they could 

 not have both win, as Mr. Alston richly deserved it for 

 having cut out the work for tlie field the whole way round, 

 and Mr. Acworth for the plucky and determined way in 

 which he set to work to beat the champion horseman of the 

 Calcutta Hunt ! I was very glad to see Laddie win as he 

 is a very intimate friend of mine. Mr. Acworth told me 

 that before the start Laddie gave one of those funny little 

 squeals, and he knew that the little horse then really meant 

 to win or die in the attempt ! 



The next arrival after the first two was Mr. West on 

 Saxonbury. The first of the two w^elter weights to arrive 

 was Ballygunge Jim, w^ho finished his symphony on the 

 Grand Piano amidst the tumultuous acclamations of the 

 populace. The rest of the field all arrived without any 

 further accident to man or beast, and thus ended the Cup- 

 Chase. 



The distance was about 2^^ miles, with about 15 fences. 

 *' Good-bye " is a nasty word to have to say even to ark 



