138 TALES AND TRAITS OF SPORTING LIFE. 



on inspection, altlioug-h, of course, without distinction. 

 However, the Austrians have g-ot him at a long; figure, 

 and one gives a sigh of relief to think he is gone. ''The 

 next lot," as thej say at '' the Corner," is of very differ- 

 ent calibre, and long is he under examination. The con- 

 ditions are for the best stallion to g-et horses, not only for 

 racing' but more g-eneral purposes. A difficult combina- 

 tion of excellence may -be, but surely this is something'* 

 like it. Mr. Weatherby strokes his chin as if he was 

 hard hit at last ; Dawson scans the nag' leerily round, and 

 Mr. Hobson bids the man ''walk him down." He does 

 that well enough, and there is a murmur of approval 

 round the ring at his action. It is a child of old Alice, 

 as they fondly call her — the Lord Fauconberg-, with his 

 bloodlike head, fine forehand, and famous back and quar- 

 ters. He does not look quite so full of flesh as when we saw 

 him in Scotland, but there is quality and substance there 

 if you like, and, but for that Birdcatcher hock, what shall 

 beat him? However, he took the first prize at the 

 Great Yorkshire meeting at Pontefract, and as his Lord- 

 ship leaves the ring it is clear enough he has made an im- 

 pression, with takers of three to one that he is first or 

 second ; and they cannot be far out either, for he must be 

 at all points one of the most "fashionable" of the lot. 

 But he is hardly out ere he is forgotten, for, with a '' hie I 

 hie ! there !" in marches the great horse of the country. 

 And at the first glance we know that our chief fear is 

 groundless. Voltigeur has only fined as he has ag'ed, 

 and he is not nearly so coarse an animal now as when he 

 won the Derby. Every trace of " the Yorkshire coach- 

 horse" is gone, and he stands there in high condition, the 

 very embodiment of the powerful, muscular, and sound 

 blood stallion. 



