230 THE HAUGHTYSHIRE HUNT. 



" But I should not be bored. On the contrary, I should 

 be immensely interested. Do tell me," said Adela coaxingly. 



" Well, it was merely this. Meredith, a man I knew in 

 the Guards, had a horse which he greatly fancied both as 

 a jumper and galloper. He had entered him for the big 

 steeplechase at Aylesbury, and backed him for a great deal 

 more than he could afford to lose. After a rattling race, I 

 was lucky enough to win on Mameluke, a horse I had bought 

 two months beforehand. Poor Meredith was very hard hit, 

 losing about five thousand in all, but that night he was the 

 gayest of the gay. Only to me did he tell the depth of his 

 misfortune ; he would have to leave the Service, and intended 

 to enlist in a French chasseur regiment, then in North Africa. 

 We dined in the old Eochester Eoom of the White Hart, at 

 Aylesbury, and after dinner the fun grew fast and furious. 

 Jameson, the ' Leviathan ' bookmaker, was present with us, 

 and, having made a tremendous pile on the race that day, 

 was in very high spirits, and commenced some rather rough 

 badinage at the expense of Meredith and his defeated horse. 

 ' He can neither gallop or jump,' cried Jameson scoffingly. 

 ' Come, Jameson, that's too severe,' said Meredith, ' there is 

 no cleverer jumper in the world, however badly he failed to 

 gallop the course to-day.' ' Ha, ha ! ' laughed the bookmaker, 

 ' then jump him over this dining-table ! ' Meredith coolly 

 replied, ' Dare you bet in earnest against it '? ' Jameson at 

 once drew out his betting book, and said. ' To any amount 

 you choose to go.' Well, to cut the story short, the horse 

 was actually brought up the stairs into the room, a young- 

 fellow named Manning, a light weight and a perfect horse- 

 man, mounted liim bareback, and with only a halter on the 



