202 " MY KINGDOM FOR A HORSE ! " 



had they run into him ? No ; they were at fault, and were 

 spreading to cast themselves in that very field into which 

 we viewed the fox only a few moments ago. Had he lain 

 down in a ditch and been overrun ? No, it was not so ; 

 and, strange though it may appear, nothing more was ever 

 made out of that fox. That he had crept off somewhere 

 and was lying helpless with exhaustion is practically 

 certain ; but where could not be discovered, though it 

 must have been close at hand. 



" At any rate," said the Master, wiping his brow, " we've 

 had one of the best gallops I ever remember." Then 

 pulling out his watch : " Thirty-seven minutes, and from 

 Baldersby Whin to Newton House is over seven miles. 

 That's fast enough in all conscience." 



The facts of this run, as given here, are recorded in 

 Blair Athol, and I may add that John Booth, having read 

 the book, corroborated the account in every detail. I rode 

 Longbow in many another run with the Bedale, and his 

 portrait with John Booth's certificate appears in this 

 work, but that run from Baldersby Whin to Newton House 

 was the best of all, and it was through no merit of my own 

 that I was in it, except indeed that I had the sense to 

 follow John Booth. 



The sequel to the Joseph Rawlinson Battersby affair 

 was that the " Van Driver " of Baily's Magazine took it 

 up seriously and criticised the circular with ponderous 

 sarcasm, printing several of the rules in italics " The 

 italics are our own," said the "Van Driver." He also 

 said, with bitter irony : " Mr Battersby is going into 

 Yorkshire, a country where people are notoriously in- 

 competent to manage horses : so we wish him the success 

 he deserves." 



Especially, however, was he moved by the reference to 

 Mr Arthur Yates and Mr Ernest Willoughby. 



" Unfortunate Mr Battersby ! " wrote he, " what in- 

 duced you to put such an awful crammer upon paper ? 

 We have been at some trouble to investigate the matter, 

 and would our readers believe it ? Mr Arthur Yates 



