14 ASHGILL; OR, THE LIFE 



to immortalise herself as the dam of Ormonde, were 

 now unoccupied by a racer of any note. Comparative 

 decay marked the old place. Its old master's remains 

 had now mixed with the churchyard mould of Coverham 

 for upwards of a third of a century. Fred Bates, a 

 whilom Middleham featherweight, afterwards a trainer 

 for Sir Robert Jardine, was now " master " of 

 Tupgill, with an attenuated string of horses under his 

 care. How changed from the days of old Tom Dawson, 

 when Tupgill could boast a Pretender and other 

 celebrities of the Turf, attesting to the dead 

 master's skill! Thorngill, in the occupation of Tom 

 Connor, had only a few " platers " in its keeping. 

 Harry Hall is a dying man at Spigot Lodge in these 

 closing days of December, 1896; he expired on the 

 28th of that month in that year. The old man yet 

 glibly talked of his prospects for the ensuing spring 

 campaign, prospects never, alas ! to be realised. 



But while it is a case of " Ichabod " in regard to 

 Spigot Lodge, Tupgill, and Thorngill, it must be con- 

 fessed, as showing what a grand stayer " Master John " 

 is, that his place at Brecongill was full of horses fuller, 

 indeed, than it had been for several seasons past. Of 

 its master one may exclaim 



"Men may come, and men may go, 

 But he trains on for ever." 



At length the wayfarer from Coverham hits the 

 line of " The Wizard," and finds himself at the trellised 

 porchway of Brecongill. A hearty welcome from the 

 dapper John Osborne himself, attired in the familiar 

 drab knee-breeches, and an introduction to his charming 

 wife and to those members of the family who had not 

 as yet quitted the parental roof to fight their way in 



