Mr. Digby Collins 



On looking through the list of steeplechases to come, I 

 was glad to find that there was to be a hunt meeting in the 

 county, at Wellington ; and I thought that, though the mare 

 had no pretensions to being fit to run — having been asked to 

 do no more than to walk and trot about the roads for five 

 hours a day — as she was hard and not too big, it would be a 

 good trial for her ; since Colonel Le Gendre Starkie's Sepoy 

 would be sure to be in the race, and he was then quite at the 

 top of the tree as a hunt steeplechaser. 



However, when I saw the course — stated to be three miles, 

 but really not more than two and a half — with small and trappy 

 fences, and not overround ploughed fields, over which any- 

 thing like racing would be impossible, I had almost made up 

 my mind not to run her ; but, as she was on the ground, 

 I decided at the last moment to let her take her chance. But, 

 of course, I was compelled to ask the stewards to absolve 

 me from the perils of the preparatory canter — which was 

 deemed to be the essential, as it was the customary, preliminary 

 to the race. The stewards very courteously conceded this 

 privilege, and, moreover, asked the starter to have all the 

 runners at the starting-post before I mounted. 



As I anticipated, when, by the aid of two or three of my 

 hunting friends, I reached the saddle, Express jumped off 

 with the lead — with no intention of yielding to the bit ; and 

 she gave me quite as much as I could do to keep her in 

 the course. Two fences from home she was still in front ; but 

 a gap in the last fence having been made in the previous 

 race, she ran through it, and slid along the ground on her 

 chest ; and, before I could get her on her legs again, Sepoy 

 got about half a dozen lengths start, and I could never quite 

 reach him. 



As all the other runners were beaten off, I felt more 



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