46 KINGSCLERE 



path across the fields, went thereafter ' roundly to 

 work,' met Sir Joseph Hawley on the way, and the 

 trial took place unwitnessed by a single tout. All 

 the time the watchers were under padlock and key, 

 and when Sir Joseph and Porter returned with the 

 horses, of course by way of the old tollhouse, they 

 were regaled with the sight of the enraged prisoners 

 engaged in the act of removing a window-frame, 

 they having apparently made the direful discovery 

 that exit by the door had been made impossible. 

 To say that the language which was used by the 

 frustrated spies, especially when they recognised Sir 

 Joseph Hawley, and concluded that ' it was all over,' 

 was unfit for publication would be to flatter their 

 vocabulary. 



And now for the trial itself, one of the most 

 remarkable of the many recorded in the chronicles 

 of Kingsclere : 



ONE MILE AND A QUARTER 



Rosicrucian, 3 yrs., 8 st. 7 lb. . . . .1 

 Blue Gown, 3 yrs., 8 st. 7 lb. . . .2 



The Palmer, 4 yrs., 9 st. 10 lb. . . .3 



Won by a neck ; two lengths between second and third. 



The Two Thousand was run on April 28, the 

 above-named trial took place on May 12, and the 

 Derby itself occurred on the 27th of the latter month. 

 It was in the course of their return to Park House, 

 when they naturally discussed the marked improve- 

 ment which had taken place in Rosicrucian, that 

 Sir Joseph Hawley communicated his intentions to 



