REMINISCENCES OF SONEPORE. 285 



of day lifted his golden head over the horizon, and with a view 

 of getting the cobwebs out of their eyes, horses were ordered 

 and out they sallied jackal dumping with short sticks, a sport 

 not as difficult as might be thought, for by the end of the meeting 

 Sonepore jackals are fat as pigs and cannot go far. Back 

 to a sumptuous breakfast, and then alas ! the parting always 

 sad at this jolliest of gatherings ; and by two o'clock only a 

 few melancholy tents remained to show where once had stood 

 the camp of 1895. But who stumped up for the plantains? 

 Slack did not, nor did the Tommies, the loafer would have 

 scorned such an action and if asked would have exclaimed a 

 la poor Bertie Short 



" Base is the slave who pays." 



During the meeting and after it, the hat was sent round 

 for the proposed improvements and the response was both 

 prompt and generous. Over eight thousand rupees were collect- 

 ed, and Mr. Mills worked throughout the hot weather indefatig- 

 ably to finish the work in time for this year's meeting, the 

 result being most satisfactory; he was ably aided by Mr. Long- 

 muir of the B. and N. W. Railway, who lives on the spot, and 

 most kindly gave a lot of his spare time and experience to 

 push things on, also taking charge ( of the race course. Entries 

 were bigger than for many years. Another sad death of a local 

 planter occurred in April; just as the yearly Gymkhana was in 

 full swing, died poor Sammy Ayres, of whom the I.P.G. thus 

 wrote: 



" It is with unfeigned sorrow we hear from Chupra the 

 sad news that poor Mr. S. W. Ayers has succumbed to the 

 bad attack of enteric fever he has been suffering under for the 

 past three weeks. Last week he seemed better, but a few 

 days back his condition was more serious, and on the first day 

 of the Chupra June Meeting, of which, had he been in health, 

 he would have been the very life and soul, his strength gave 

 out, and as good a fellow as ever breathed was lost to us. 



