346 KINGSCLERE 



illustrated with a number of snapshots of the Kodak. ' It 

 was none of your casual, off-hand visits,' she writes, ' such 

 as you can pay to Salvator, or Kingston, or His Highness, 

 or any other American equine celebrity. It was a climax, 

 carefully and artistically led up to.' The lady omits to 

 name the station she disembarked at (it was Burghclere), 

 but, not having previously arranged for a fly to meet her, 

 she had to walk, and for two miles of her journey to Park 

 House to carry a bag, a Kodak, and an umbrella. About 

 the termination of the trudge she writes : ' As twilight crept 

 under the wing of night, I crossed a tiny limpid stream and 

 turned to the right, and came up with a bright little stable- 

 lad, who volunteered to guide me to Mr. Porter's. Guide 

 me he did, right through the back door and the butler's 

 pantry into the sitting-room. And that was how I made 

 my entrance into the conservative English family circle of 

 Orme's trainer. I fell into the gentle hands of Mrs. Porter, 

 an ideal English housewife, placid, domestic, and sweetly 

 contented, with smooth pink cheeks, serene blue eyes, and 

 a dainty lace cap on the whitening hair, so at variance with 

 her fresh face. I satisfied a four-mile English appetite 

 under her hospitable care, and I dropped off to sleep in a 

 luxurious room as big as a New York flat.' Next morning 

 this enterprising lady-journalist stepped 'out through the 

 window across the lawn and through the shrubbery to look 

 at the racing actualities of the present as they filed down 

 the road on their way to the downs and exercise, each 

 wearing a sheet and a nightcap [sic] and carrying a neat 

 lad.' She described the Downs in vivid and flattering 

 terms, was driven to the gallops, witnessed the string at 

 work, paid elaborate court to Orme, interviewed Mr. Porter, 

 and extracted from him the leading facts of his career, and, 

 in short, accomplished her task with a thoroughness that an 

 experienced male journalist with a previous knowledge of 

 the subject of racing would have found it difficult to excel. 

 A full description of the house, the gardens, and conserva- 

 tories, stables, and offices at Park House is included in 

 Mrs. Tompkins's enthusiastic narrative. The printed rules 

 and regulations framed for the control of the men and 

 1 lads ' employed at Kingsclere the American lady found 

 admirable. She prints them in extenso, giving it as her 

 opinion that 'they offer unique suggestions to American 

 trainers.' ' As I munched strawberries from the vines,' 



