THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



Frank. — ' He lias not got the speed of hiin, Sir John ; neither 

 do I think Achilles can cover so large a fence.' 



Sir John. — ' Well, Frank, I commend your candour — I may 

 say, your sincerity ; for, as I purchased the horses for you, 

 you might have compromised truth for politeness' sake. As 

 I detest a boaster, I sincerely commend you for what you 

 have said ; and now, if you please, we will sit down to our 

 soup.' 



Ill the course of the evening, the arrangements for attending 

 Ascot Races were thus stated by Sir John : — 



' I shall send one team to Staines, where it will remain during 

 the meeting ; so that we shall go and return on each day, 

 which will add nnich to our amusement ; and I think our party 

 will be a pleasant one : at all events, I will do my best towards 

 making it such, and have given orders that a good dinner, for 

 eight, shall await us every day, at tlie " Bush " ; so that we shall 

 have the road clear for us on our return to town, and travel 

 in the cool of the evening, when the crowd of cockneys will be 

 dispersed.' 



It is not worth while to enter into the detail of an Ascot 

 Meeting, so long passed by as this is ; but, as may easily be 

 imagined, the splendour of the scene, unrivalled in the world, 

 made a deep impression upon our hero. Neither was it the 

 scene alone, in which the enthusiastic reception of the Royal 

 Family formed a principal and pleasing feature, that im- 

 pressed his mind. He saw racing to perfection. He saw the 

 performance of the best horses and the best jockeys of the 

 day ; amongst the latter, the famous Samuel Chifney, and 

 Jolni Arnull, both riding for the Prince of Wales ; Tom Goodi- 

 son, and others of equal Newmarket celebrity; as also Billy 

 Pierce, as he was called, the noted Yorkshire jockey, then 

 riding for His Grace of Cleveland, at that time Lord Darling- 

 ton. But we must not forget Dennis Fitzpatrick, imported 

 from Ireland by Lord Clermont, who was at that period in the 

 height of practice, but whose life was cut short by catching 

 cold in wasting. Frank Raby's admiration of these men, as 

 also of the horses on which they distinguished themselves, the 

 best, perhaps, of their day, at all events very sujDerior to any 

 he had ever seen before, was almost boundless ; and he would, 

 now and then, ask himself the question : — ' Shall / ever 

 make a figure on this course ? ' The answer to which, he 



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