Rides in the " National " 



scenery were so vague and chaotic that they 

 could not be set down on paper by the most 

 Eminent Author — which is a reason why even 

 I shirk the job. One is not knocked silly many 

 times without feeling so — perhaps permanently. 



In 1899 I was engaged to ride "Zeebee" at 

 Liverpool, but an attack of gout interfered with 

 that arrangement, and compelled me to stand 

 down, on uneasy feet. Nor was I called upon 

 to perform in the following year — I forget why, 

 and if the cause were profusely illustrated I do 

 not imagine that readers would thank me for 

 incurring the extra expense — but in 1901 I was 

 to the front again on " Grudon " in that memor- 

 able snowstorm, as already described. Shrewd 

 sportsmen are asked kindly to remember the 

 butter in his feet ; it may have helped appreci- 

 ably to do the trick in style. As a wag told 

 me after the event : " You carried 2 lbs. extra, 

 old chap — 2 lbs. of butter — and if you'd had a 

 bit of cheese up your sleeve, you couldn't have 

 had 'em more beautifully on toast." I was 

 obliged to laugh — at what I did not know until 

 some time after the coruscation had subsided. 

 Even then I was not certain. Many jesters 

 have an audience like that, who laugh first and 

 think afterwards, or they would not have laughed 



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