142 THE POST AND THE PADDOCK. 



bed at Headley, and wended his way down the hill to 

 Mr. Ladbroke's, where Sailor was standing, with the 

 remainder of Mr. ThornhilPs horses. The booths on 

 the race-course were cracking and flying abont every- 

 where "'neath the breath of the howling blast" ; but 

 although Will had to wade through a perfect Balak- 

 lava of liquid slush, and was wet through long before 

 he reached his charge, he told his friends that he felt 

 as if he could have stopped and danced with pleasure, 

 as he knew that none of the fourteen could touch his 

 Sailor now. If Jem Bland had still been Mr. Lad- 

 broke's coachman, he might have perhaps had this 

 weather secret confided to him, instead of losing so 

 heavily on Sailor as he did. As it turned out, Will 

 had taken the mud measure of his horses most ex- 

 actly ; and Mr. Thornhill was so confident from the 

 same cause, that he made Sailor as good a favourite 

 as anything before starting, and won 23,000 on 

 him. At this period Mr. Thornhill was about forty 

 years of age, and weighed 23st. 31bs., or about 31bs. 

 more than a sporting Suffolk farmer, one Mr. Dobito, 

 who had a great love for trotting horses, and used 

 often to sell him a nag. These had been so well 

 accustomed to Mr. D's. weight, when they came to 

 hand, that Mr. Thornhill regularly rode on the 

 Heath, and only took to the yellow phaeton and the 

 greys in the few last years of his life. Sam's racing 

 career after the Derby was most ignoble, as he was a 

 bad-constitutioned horse, and, like Shoveller, lost 

 all form ; but Sailor's chance was cut short by death 

 during that very autumn. Will Chifney had taken 

 him out on the Heath as usual one morning, and was 

 watching the string as they rose the hill from the 

 bushes, when he suddenly observed him stop in his 

 stride, cross his legs, stagger about two hundred yards, 

 and then drop. He had broken a blood-vessel in the 

 chest, and was quite dead before Will could gallop 

 up to him and get off his hack. The horse must have 



