Hunting Enjoyment 



mind or elsewhere. Such poison is not difficult 

 to remove from one's system. 



I often regretted that the leisure at my dis- 

 posal did not permit me to take " Ilex " into 

 Leicestershire for the hunting, since I am sure 

 that he would have astonished some of the most 

 audacious " bruisers " in that paradisaical region. 

 His speed and my light weight were important 

 factors in our favour. Besides, amongst the fox- 

 catchers, we do not often see a Grand National 

 winner ; he is a bit of a curiosity on account of 

 his triumphs in another arena. The glamour 

 of success, like the gilt on the gingerbread, is 

 not soon worn off unless one is too greedy for 

 promotion. 



The statement has been advanced that steeple- 

 chase jockeys are not, as a rule, hard men to 

 hounds. " They like," said a cynic, " to see a 

 gold watch and chain on the other side of a 

 fence before they care to jump it, and if there 

 is also a little coin concealed in the hedge, they 

 don't need to send for ferrets, their own power 

 of sniff being supreme." I have watched many 

 steeplechase jockeys going really well when 

 hounds were running, and — if I may say so with- 

 out undue egotism — I was generally in the first 

 flight or thereabouts with " Ilex " as my mount. 



J29 i 



