DANEBURY DAYS 



public were not destined to receive any very re- 

 liable account of it, as, just before it took place, 

 the touts — the polite term, " men of observation," 

 had not been invented in those days, and the old 

 one is far more expressive — were surrounded by a 

 body of stablemen commanded by Enoch, promptly 

 made prisoners, placed in a waggonette and driven 

 to Stockbridge, where they were locked up in a room 

 at the principal inn. Their temporary captivity 

 was, however, made as endurable as possible, as 

 they were provided with an admirable breakfast, 

 accompanied by an unlimited supply of champagne, 

 and they bore so little malice in the matter that 

 they subsequently went to the railway station in a 

 body to cheer the Marquis as he started on his 

 iourney back to town, and to wish him good luck. 

 He could not have felt very hopeful of success, for 

 though Blue Riband had shown himself to be better 

 than Rustic, The Duke had given 21 lb. and a 

 beating to each of them. Unfortunately Blue 

 Riband could not be trained, so Danebury had to 

 fall back upon Rustic, who, as was shown by his 

 trial, was only a moderate colt, and could not do 

 more than finish an indifferent third to Lord Lyon 

 and Savernake. His best performance was un- 

 doubtedly accomplished in the Prince of Wales's 

 Stakes at Ascot, in which, in receipt of 6 lb. from 

 Lord Lyon, he beat the Derby winner by half a 

 length. Still it is easy to over-estimate the value 

 of this achievement, for Lord Lyon was not a great 

 stayer, and was, moreover, a delicate colt, who 

 took a long time to recover the effects of such a 

 severe race as that which he ran at Epsom. On 

 the day following his defeat of Lord Lyon, Rustic 

 scrambled home a neck in front of Janitor for a 

 Biennial, but this proved to be his last victory. 

 The grey Strathconan, carrying the then well- 



71 



