334 The Leather Plater. 



the farmer if he had stood the race out ; but in coming over the 

 flight of hurdles next above the stand, he slipped, breasted the top 

 rail, rolled over, and broke his near hind-leg just below the hock as 

 short as a carrot. He rolled over Tom, who was a good deal 

 shaken, and of course his Chance was out and the young farmer, 

 whose horse also fell at the same flight of hurdles, but without 

 receiving any damage, managed to struggle in alone, and walked 

 over at his leisure for the third heat. It was with great difficulty 

 that we got the horse up, and he was in such dreadful pain that a 

 gun was sent for, and we had him shot on the spot. It was a sad 

 loss for us j we had refused two hundred for him many times, and 

 I think, had he won this race, we should have got two hundred and 

 fifty for him. Thus ended the career of poor Chance, in his day 

 one of the best leather-platers in England. 



Let me, in concluding this tale, make one remark. These little 

 sporting sketches are intended for the amusement, and not for the 

 instruction, of the reader, who is requested to read them as he 

 would a novel or any other work of fiction, and not as plain matter- 

 of-fact. Although the principal incidents in every one of these 

 sporting sketches took place much as they are here described, I 

 have not confined myself to plain matter-of-fact, but have coloured 

 simple details to make them read the better, and, for obvious reasons, 

 have mystified names and localities. 



