SAXON AND THE THIEF. 285 



Mr. Saxon's name recorded in the list of winning- 

 owners, and Mr. Barber's in the year 1873, and 

 then only credited with £50 which he won with 

 Lothair at Liverpool. Thus a racing career of some 

 twenty years was brought to a conclusion, anything 

 but fortunate. Their aim and delight was to win 

 small stakes ; and in this capacity they were, in the 

 North and Midland counties, as much a terror to 

 their opponents as Mr. Parr was in the West and 

 Southern districts. But after many years of patient 

 endurance, they had to succumb to the inevitable fate 

 of incompetency. 



Mr. Saxon had his watch taken from him at 

 Egham, one year ; but he caught the thief, and in 

 true Lancashire fashion, in an instant, tripped him on 

 his back and rifled his pockets, finding on him sixteen 

 watches besides his own, which alone he kept, and let 

 the ruffian go. Saxon was fond of good living, and 

 indulged his appetite, which was voracious. His 

 favourite dish was a rump steak. This he preferred 

 very tough to the tenderest. As he would say, 

 ' There was something to bite at.' Though once, 

 favoured by luck as we have seen, and possessed of a 

 fortune, he died in needy circumstances, much the 

 same as he began life with. Mr. Barber survived him 

 many years, but I am afraid not in the comfortable 

 position which might have been looked for from his 

 many victories in the palmy days of yore. He died, 

 I believe, last year. 



