CHASING AND RACING 83 



acquainted with the inmates, they would find their 

 enjoyment of the game more than doubled, when the 

 season begins ; especially if they have been cubbing 

 during the educational phase, and have noticed the 

 progress of the young entry. 



Others who were real sportsmen and sports- 

 women besides my own domestic crowd, " Uncle 

 Punch " and " Auntie Emmy " were the brothers 

 Clutterbuck, J. B. Cowley, " Jimmy Woods " (a young 

 farmer, with an equally charming wife, one of the very 

 best, a thorough sportsman and a perfect specimen of 

 Nature's gentlemen), and George Gurney, a Silver 

 Ring penciller, to whom I have already paid tribute 

 in my pony racing reminiscences. 



Mention of this excellent sportsman recalls an 

 incident which had escaped my memory when setting 

 forth my pony racing experiences. It was by no 

 means a heroic episode. The scene is laid at Wye. I 

 had ridden one of my string to victory and was all 

 cock-a-hoop ; so when a certain owner asked me to 

 ride a pony of his (called Miss Westbourne) in a 

 subsequent race, I jumped at the offer. Happening 

 to meet George Gurney I told him of my projected 

 ride. " Don't you, master ! " he said. " She is a 

 mad brute, and will give you a rough time ! " (as 

 indeed she did) ; but I scorned to funk the adventure, 

 with the result that, after finishing a poor third, I was 

 taken twice round the course by the flighty one before 

 I could pull her up. The Usher and Sarah were 



