40 THE BEST OF THE FUN 



the sake of your stud and yourself, and always when 

 possible, you should take out two. If you have a bad 

 day, No. i is ready and better for another occasion three 

 days hence. If you have a good day, you certainly want 

 them both, as the ground is now. Besides, to take two 

 out (I won't say your only two, but two out of four^ 

 for instance) is tantamount to investing in an accident 

 insurance policy. It pays if required, and it seems to 

 ward off mishap while you possess it. There is nothing 

 more distressing nor more frequent than to have to go 

 home early because your single horse is discovered to 

 be lame, coughing, or amiss. 



A new definition, from a quarter not altogether 

 celebrated for originality — to wit, the stable-yard. The 

 mainstay of a certain stud is Victor, bay gelding with 

 Hibernian pedigree and understandings that were doubt- 

 ful some years ago, and are beyond all doubt this pull- 

 about winter. " How's Victor this morning ? " inquired 

 his hopeful owner, with a view to a third day in the 

 current week out of the long-suffering hero. " Capital, 

 sir, capital ! " answered the head of the remount depart- 

 ment. " He eats well and rests well, but the size of his 

 legs makes him go a bit clumsy-like." 



CHAPTER VII 



A ROUGH HOUR WITH THE PYTCHLEY 



How shall we grumble at rain, how shall we murmur 

 at deep ground, after so narrow an escape as Saturday^ 

 December 12, 1892, from frost and snow and ice-bound 

 imprisonment ? We were nearly as possible hemmed 

 in, and, hey, presto ! on Monday we are at it again amid 

 mud and flood and dirt unutterable, rapidly accustoming 

 ourselves to riding through a country rather than over 

 it, and quite content to regard the torrents of rain as 

 merely part of the play. 



On Saturday morning at shaving-time the turf was 

 white almost as the suds on one's brush : the sun shone 



