'ROMULUS 1 CLAIMED. 341 



at 3 to 1, won easily, and was claimed by Mr. 

 Craven. I claimed the Priestess colt ; though he 

 had never been out before, and in this race ran very 

 badly. But knowing how Duleibella improved from 

 a two- to a three-year-old, I thought probably the 

 colt might do the same. Besides, he was a great fine 

 horse that looked likely to do good another year. 

 Lord William came to me the next day and asked 

 me to let him have his horse back again. But I said 

 I could not, as I had parted with him already to Mr. 

 Murphy, which was true. Yet I think I could have 

 found another excuse, if it had been necessary, for 

 not parting with him. But, as the sexton said, ' One 

 reason was sufficient,' when asked by a parishioner 

 why they did not ring the church bells ; and that was 

 ' because they had none ; but if that was not enough,' 

 he added, ' the parson did not like them.' 



Poor Sam Rogers ! As though the loss of Dalci- 

 bella was not dreadful enough, he must put her half- 

 brother in a selling race the next meeting. If this 

 were not akin to insanity, I know not what might be 

 in such a matter. For I tried the colt, afterwards 

 called Romulus, and found he had good speed, and 

 the following year proved he could stay well ; and, 

 in fact, was a better horse than his sister was a mare. 

 I have very little doubt, indeed, that he would have 

 won both the Cesarewitch and Cambridgeshire as a 

 three-year-old, if he had been left in my hands. 

 But the grateful youth, Mr. Murphy, left me for a 



