THE GRAND NATIONAL. 131 



The Huntsman was another of those " bargains " 

 in horseflesh which crop up now and again in the 

 annals of the Grand National. We tell the story of 

 the deal just as we heard it from the lips of the late 

 Captain Townely, the original purchaser of the horse. 



With a hard frost on the ground, and hunting 

 therefore out of the question, what more natural 

 than that Tom Townely, quartered with the loth 

 Hussars in Ireland, whither the regiment had been 

 sent after their return from the Crimea, should 

 propose, one fine day, to a couple of brother officers, 

 by way of killing the time which hung so heavily on 

 their hands, to drive over to the abode of a small 

 horse-dealer in the neighbourhood, with a view to 

 inspecting the contents of his loose boxes ? 



Whether his brother officers indulged in a deal on 

 their own account we are not in a position to state, 

 but we have the Captain's own authority for 

 stating that when he started to drive back to bar- 

 racks he had left behind him a cheque for ^150, 

 less a sovereion back for luck, in return for which 

 he found himself the proud possessor of a good- 

 looking young bay horse, to be sent for when " con- 

 vanient to his honour.'' 



Leaving the service shortly afterwards, Captain 

 Townely took the bay, now named The Huntsman, 



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