48 SPORTING STORIES 



comfortable sensation of " smelling a rat." But there was 

 no retreating now ; so, not feeling quite so " cock-a-hoop " 

 as he did a few minutes ago, John mounted his pony and 

 the yokel mounted his, with his butcher's apron twisted 

 round his arm, and off they went ; and when John had 

 been beaten by twenty yards, he learned to his mortifica- 

 tion that his pony had been matched against Gulliver, 

 one of the most famous of his day, and that his rider, 

 the pretended bumpkin, was a first-class jockey. 



Old John Day was a strict observer of the Sabbath, 

 never exercising his horses on that day, and he used to 

 tell a story in support of his principle. One Sunday 

 morning Mr Padwick came down with a party to see his 

 Derby favourite, Belgrade, at exercise. It would make 

 thousands of pounds difference to him, he said, if his 

 friends saw his horse out and his beautiful action when 

 extended, instead of seeing him merely in the stable. 



" Belgrade is your horse," replied John, " and so are the 

 rest, and you can do what you like with them ; and ii 

 you take them out Goater may go with them, but you 

 must excuse me." 



Padwick accepted the compromise, and Belgrade and a 

 few more were taken to the Downs. Galloping with an 

 old horse, Belgrade suddenly became frightened at nothing, 

 or at least at nothing that could be seen. Though gener- 

 ally of a most docile disposition, he now grew unmanage- 

 able; he dashed off at a furious pace down a steep hill 

 that was almost a precipice ; the boy who was riding 

 threw himself off in a fright, and the animal pursued his 

 headlong course. In vain did Goater on a hack and 

 Padwick in his carriage give chase : Belgrade soon out- 

 distanced them, after divesting himself of saddle, bridle, 

 and every particle of clothing. Nothing more was seen 

 or heard of him that night ; but the next morning, just as 

 John was about to set out to scour the country, a man 

 called to ask if a horse was missing, as one had been 

 caught in his yard the previous night, and was now at the 

 end of the barn tied up with a halter. A lad was 

 despatched at once; the horse proved to be the missing 

 Bel^rrade. The truant was brought back in a most terrible 



