THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



the morning. " He's heart of oak," said I ; and I sent him at 

 a flight of rails nearly as high as his back, which he cleared 

 with apparent ease. In short, he appeared to be the freshest 

 horse in the field ; but he had had his puff', whilst the others 

 were going over the Newton hills (remember, he was only a five- 

 year-old). Distress was apparent in all ; even Bernado began 

 to refuse, which he never does till he is beat (Forester swears 

 he never %vas but twice) ; and Meynell's grey looked very much 

 like compounding. Germaine got fast in a sheep pen ; for 

 {j,lthough Melon jumped into it, he would not jump out ; in 

 short, the jump had left him, and we never saw him again. 

 " Where's the best place ? " cried Cholmondeley, who could 

 not face some timber, and was looking for a creep through a 

 bullfinch ; he found it not, and we saw no more of him. " How 

 shall we get over the brook ? " holloaed Lockley, who would 

 have jumped one twice as wide this morning, and thought 

 nothing about it. " Go quick at it," said I ; and Brilliant went 

 a yard beyond it. " Well done the five-j^ear-old ! " holloaed 

 Martin Hawke, who was the next moment over head and ears 

 in the water ; his horse never rose at it at all. 



' There were now only five of us with the hounds, and it 

 began to be labour and sorrow with us all. As for Brilliant, 

 it was all over with him. The flash in the pan had exploded 

 — perhaps had been extinguished by the brook. Nevertheless, 

 I am ashamed to say, I persevered with him, but I could 

 scarcely lift him along ; — he dragged his hind legs through tlie 

 fences, and I could not make him rise. He was, in fact, twice 

 down on his head in the space of a mile and a half, though 

 we did not part company. In addition to this, with the flnest 

 mouth in the world, he leaned half his weight on my hand, 

 and the hounds were leaving me apace. " I'll try him once 

 more," said I to myself ; so got him on a smooth headland (for 

 ridge and furrow were destroying him), and sent him at a stile 

 at the end of it. For the first time in his life he refused ; I 

 put him at it again, and I thought he was going to take it ; but 

 he had not the power to rise, and, swerving a little to the left, 

 he ran his head into the hedge, and floundered on his knees on 

 the bank. I jumped off' him immediately, and thanked him 

 for not giving me a fall. Now what a situation was I in ! I 

 could still see the hounds, and the five men going by their 

 side. But I could only see them ; I could no longer be with 



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