Jack Tobin. 69 



That was " good enough " for me, so on the next occa- 

 sion I met the officers of the 65 th, I introduced the 

 subject of the Oueenstown foot race, and praised the 

 young countryman's running. To this Mr. Marryat, one 

 of the subalterns, repHed that they had a man in the 

 regiment who could beat Tobin. We thereupon made 

 a match for ^100 for no yards. When the paper was 

 signed, Mr. Marryat named himself He at that time, 

 and as I knew, was one of the fastest gentlemen sprinters 

 in England, and, at his best, could do 100 yards in the 

 same time as my raw country lad, running barefoot, did 

 his trial in, or perhaps a yard better. During the month 

 or so in which I had to train Tobin, I took care to keep 

 him strong and fresh. He used to have a quiet walk 

 for a couple of miles before breakfast. Two hours after 

 that he had a smart walk for five or six miles, and after 

 being rubbed down I sent him a spin for something 

 under his distance, or a couple for 50 yards, or practised 

 him at starting. Some time after dinner he had another 

 walk in the country. As he carried no superfluous flesh, 

 I allowed him to eat whatever wholesome food he liked, 

 and did not even grumble when, on Fridays, he, being a 

 good Catholic, " fasted " on fish. I used to arrange the 

 start which he had to give the man that ran with him. 



