106 SPORTING STORIES 



Obelisk in Wrest Park. Coleman's idea of a steeplechase 

 was two miles out and two miles in, and keeping the line 

 quite dark ; so he concealed men in the ditches with flags, 

 which they raised at a given signal as soon as the riders 

 were ready. Other managers liked four miles straight, and 

 after erecting two scaffold poles with a couple of sheets to 

 finish between, they left the riders to find their line, with 

 no further directions. 



The March of 183 1 saw the St Albans steeplechase 

 established in real form, and the carriages and horsemen 

 poured in so fast that there was quite a block in the out- 

 skirts of the town. Tommy Coleman, in blue coat and 

 kersey breeches, proclaimed martial law among the riders. 

 They saddled at his bugle call in the paddock of his 

 inn, the Chequers ; came out of the yard three deep, like 

 cavalry ; and marched up the town. If their general caught 

 one of them peeping over the hedges he was down on him 

 at once, Beecher was mounted on Wild Boar, and 

 apparently had the race in hand, when his horse fell close 

 to home, and was so severely injured that he died next day. 

 The winner, Moon-raker, who beat a field of eleven, had 

 been bought out of a water-cart, his sinews quite stiff with 

 work, for £18. 



Beecher had had one narrow escape that day, but his 

 dangers were not over. The demand for beds in the town 

 far exceeded the supply, and Beecher and his father had 

 not long retired to a double-bedded room when they were 

 aroused by a furious knocking at the door. " Sir," said an 

 angry voice, " you have my bedroom, and I insist on your 

 vacating it at once." " I don't move out of this to-night," 

 replied Beecher. " Then you are no gentleman, and I shall 

 insist on you giving me satisfaction in the morning." " All 

 right," replied the sleepy steeplechase rider, not giving 

 himself the trouble to pick up the card that was thrust 

 beneath the door. When Beecher rose in the morning he 

 had forgotten all about his visitor, until, in the coffee-room, 

 he was confronted by a round-faced little man, who in- 

 quired what he had to say for his conduct last night. The 

 Captain quietly replied that he was ready to give the 

 gentleman — who was a lawyer — the satisfaction of punch- 



