136 THE RACING WORLD 



certain roughly arranged steeplechase meeting who 

 had a disagreeable experience one afternoon. An 

 energetic portion of the crowd had, it is said, backed 

 a certain horse, and was determined that it should 

 win. It seemed to be doing so as those runners 

 that still stood up neared home, but at the last 

 fence but one the animal fell and got away from 

 its prostrate jockey. It appeared quite impossible 

 that anything could happen to deprive the only 

 competitor who was left standing of the sweets of 

 victory, which would have been sours to supporters 

 of the " good thing," and the only one trifle needed 

 was the judge's verdict; but the backers of the 

 fallen steed were not lacking in resource. Rushing 

 to the judge's box they violently toppled it over 

 face foremost, the unhappy judge lay prone and 

 imprisoned, while the should-have-been winner 

 cantered past the post ; but not having seen the race 

 won, he could not bear testimony to what won it. 



I do not suppose that any one really believes 

 another story of a judge who, so the tale goes, 

 vastly surprised spectators by putting up the 

 number of the horse that carried a red jacket, 

 when there seemed no sort of doubt that it had 

 finished some distance behind the bearer of a 

 green,. Up, however, went the number of the 

 red. 



