SURPLICE'S UNPOPULARITY. 277 



glimpse of Surplice. In the midst of the crowds 

 by which he was always surrounded he bore him- 

 self with an unruffled calmness and tranquillity 

 which, despite my intimate acquaintance with his 

 disposition and temperament, fairly surprised and 

 delighted me. I endeavoured to form Leadbetter 

 and a small brigade of boys under his charge into 

 a ring around my horse. These human guards 

 quickly lost their tempers, and became violently 

 agitated, but the horse never turned a hair. The 

 same difficulty and disappointment arose when I 

 placed Surplice in the midst of a group of horses, 

 including Loadstone, 'Sagacity, and other stable 

 companions. Hemmed in by a mob of horsemen, 

 these outposts were always on their hind-legs and 

 dancing about, while Surplice walked sleepily along, 

 as quiet as an old cow. On the night before the 

 Derby a number of roughs surrounded the paddock 

 in the middle of which Lord George's stable stood, 

 and kept watch until midnight not from any desire 

 to do mischief, I verily believe, but from simple 

 curiosity. In the morning a fresh lot of touts and 

 runners emerged from the Cock Inn and kept 

 watch until Surplice left his stable and walked on 

 to the course, to start for the Derby. 



A great favourite is generally unpopular, but 

 never was there one more so than Surplice. All 

 through the winter he had been regarded as a 

 " dead un," thanks to Mr Francis Villiers's in- 

 fatuation, and to his reputation for possessing ex- 



