Captain IbonUio IRosa 245 



child's head, so as to accustom him to the sound. That 

 plan was continued daily for months without much 

 effect, for the child still shrank from the sight of a gun 

 and shook with fear at the explosion. At last on 

 the old valet got the boy to fire the gun himself at a 

 sparrow, which he killed, and from that moment he was 

 never so happy as when he had a gun in his hand. 



At the age of eighteen Horatio joined the I4th Light 

 Dragoons, but barrack life was very irksome to him, 

 depriving him as it did of enjoying the field sports which 

 he loved. So after seven years' service he sold out with 

 the rank of captain, purchased a good stud, and took 

 up his winter quarters at Melton, then at the height of 

 its glory, with the wildest spirits in the three kingdoms 

 vying with one another in feats of madcap sport and 

 reckless daring. 



Of Captain Ross's matches of all kinds at Melton with 

 Lord Kennedy I have written elsewhere in these pages. 

 I therefore pass on to some of his notable feats at game- 

 shooting. Of these one of the most remarkable was his 

 great match against Colonel, afterwards General, Anson, 

 one of the first sportsmen of his day on the Turf, in the 

 hunting-field, and in the coverts, of whom I have told 

 many good stories in " Kings of the Turf." He was, too, 

 one of the greatest whist-players of his time, and in 

 connection with his prowess at that game the following 

 story is told. When the Indian Mutiny broke out in 

 1857 General Anson was Commander-in-Chief of the 

 army in India. He started to the relief of Delhi, but his 

 movements were cautious and slow ; and when he talked 

 of entrenching himself at Umballa, instead of marching 



