MAJOR HARDING COX 311 



paddock was that I was nearly ridden over by Major 

 Harding Cox on an animal called The Usher, which, 

 although failing to win, had nevertheless insisted on 

 going another complete circuit of the course, and would 

 have gone yet another had not his jockey sought relief 

 by turning him into the paddock entrance, which I also 

 had gone into about half-a-minute before. Hearing the 

 noise, I jumped aside and evaded the danger, but The 

 Usher pursued his wild way through the paddock and to 

 the entrance to the stand, where the top of the turnstile 

 was missing, and somehow the horse squeezed through, 

 knocked old " Chippy " Norton off his stool on the other 

 side, and was only stopped by the rails to the course, 

 which caused him to slip up on his haunches, and 

 enabled Major Harding Cox to dismount. 



This, however, was as nothing to what happened 

 afterwards. The incident was one which it would seem 

 unkind to mention in these later days were it not that, 

 to my certain knowledge, the parties immediately con- 

 cerned that is to say, My Lord and My Lady re- 

 garded it as of no serious importance at all, and when 

 I saw them together at a Plumpton Meeting within a 

 year of the event, they laughed heartily at " that little 

 episode "at the Grange Meeting, and expressed pleasure 

 at the way in which I had versified it. 



Post-war morality may find nothing strange in this, 

 and, at any rate, the facts which may be gleaned from 

 the idyll (?) are basic truth. Major Dalbiac and I were 

 alone present when the first encounter took place, for he 

 had got wind of the trouble and told me. Everyone 

 else was watching a race. 



Now here is an accurate story of what happened, 

 idealised as to characters and individuals, but ir* p,o 



