146 KINGSCLERE 



are simply making a mountain out of a molar 'ill.' 

 4 Punch ' was, of course, ' on the job ' more than 

 once. The following, however, was the hunchback's 

 champion (Cockney) effort. 'Orme! sweet Orme ! 

 Orme is still off solid food, and is kept alive entirely 

 by Porter. It is the opinion of the best informed 

 that " Porter with a head on " will pull him through. 

 Smoking is not permitted in the stable, but there 

 is evidence of there being several " strong backers " 

 about.' 



Orme for days displaced Home Rule, the Eastern 

 and all other Questions, the latest murder, the leading 

 divorce case, and so forth, as the paramount topic. 

 The Duke of Westminster was bombarded with 

 telegrams, pursued on the railway from Eaton to 

 Grosvenor House, and mercilessly interviewed. The 

 newspapers, especially the sporting journals, bristled 

 with letters from veterinary and other authorities, 

 no two agreeing, on what was called ' The Poisoning 

 Theory.' To sum up, while there was from the first 

 discovery of the horse's illness at Kingsclere strong 

 and well-grounded suspicions as to the culprit — 

 suspicions which subsequent investigation tended 

 to confirm — in default of the right description of 

 incriminatory evidence, the poisoner escaped. 



The period from April to July in the year 1892 

 marked the illness and restoration of Orme to 

 running form, when he came out under remarkable 

 circumstances at Sandown, on the first day of the 

 meeting, and won the Eclipse Stakes of 10,000 sovs., 

 beating Orvieto, St. Damien, Certosa, ' the French- 



