xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 



tinently into one dirty ditch, whilst Major Medley stood upon the 

 fence and flung his shirt-tail to the wind as he tugged at the ' Old 

 Trooper,' who was stuck fast in the other. Lounger was the first 

 safely landed ; next to him Hansum on the grey ; then Cannon-ball 

 on a hot bay whose head and tail were always stuck up high in 

 mid-air; and lastly Simpson " 194 



III. The last field near Nacton Heath. Accomplished Smashers 



— and a run upon the Bank. 



"Cannon-ball, on his 'Gunpowder' horse, challenging the 

 Champion to a struggle for the lead, they charged the last fence 

 together; and while the 'Great Gun' jumped smash through the 

 middle of the gate, the grey, still hand in hand, stepped neatly over 

 the strong hurdle fence and bank, by a jump on and off. Subden 

 came third ; then Lounger's horse, kicking his heels up at his 

 master and careless of his ' woeful ' cries. Simpson was making 

 a good line of his own across the field ; and two, dismounted in 

 the distance, were exercising alike their patience, ingenuity, 

 and powers of persuasion in the subjection of their refractory 

 steeds" 246 



IV. Nacton Church and Village. The Finish. — A good five still 



alive. — Grand Chorus, " The Lads of the Village." 



"Yah ! Yah ! Yah ! screaming and whooping like devil-rid 

 maniacs, they clattered through the quiet village. Cannon-ball first, 

 Lounger next, on one side of him Simpson, on the other Hansum 

 and the grey, who still proved himself at the top of the tree in 

 timber-leaping by taking a fallen elm in his stride. Subden 

 brought up the rear, with shrill and echoing shrieks which brought 

 the villagers affrighted from their beds " ..... 274 



A Steeplechase in Bedfordshire in the Thirties . . . 277 



The Steeplechase. From the original drawing by Henry Alken 298 



The Steeplechase— Nobody the Winner. Drawn by J. F. 

 Herring 301 



The Steeplechase. From the original drawing by Henry Alken 307 



