A Sportsman at Large 165 



White, were fellow passengers. This was just after they 

 had been released from durance vile, which they had incurred 

 owing to their part in that abortive raid. I think that the 

 figuring out of such enterprises was a fad of Willoughby's, 

 for I remember sitting out on the terrace with him and Lord 

 de Clifford (affectionately known as " Ned," who ended his 

 days at Monte, struck down by pneumonia), when, " pour 

 passer le temps /'we discussed the possibility of a cutting-out ex- 

 pedition, directed against the Casino and the vast riches which 

 it contained. We drew up quite a reasonable plan of cam- 

 paign, but I am inclined to think that any bandits who might 

 decide to adopt our scheme would find that the Administration 

 had some card up its sleeve which we had not foreseen and 

 so had not provided against. 



Stands Monte where it did ? Aye, verily ! 



During my protracted patronage of the pigeon grounds, 

 I came across all sorts and conditions of men, some distin- 

 guished, some notorious ; among the latter Arthur Orton, 

 the Tichborne claimant (quite a good shot), the hard- 

 swearing but kind-hearted Marquess of Ailesbury, and others, 

 whilst among the aristocracy, besides their Majesties of 

 Serbia and Montenegro, were : 



A brother of the ineffable King Bomba of Naples (the proto- 

 type of Bombastes Furioso), who had adopted the nom de tir, 

 " Conte de Montecupo," a quiet and courtly gentleman, the 

 antithesis of his notorious relative. Also the Grand Duke 

 Peter of Russia, calling himself " Mr. Strelock," the why and 

 wherefore of which pseudonym I was never able to discover. 



Prince " Mickie " Bariatinski was quite beau gar f on, very 

 fair, handsome and debonair. At that time he was the 

 bon ami of the adorable Lena Cavaliari, who, then at the 

 zenith of her beauty, was quite the loveliest woman I ever 

 remember to have seen and that is saying something ! 



Another with whom I struck up a very pleasant camaraderie 

 was Prince Scherinski Shihmatoff, who was at that time the 

 director of sport in the entourage of the ill-fated Tsar. 



The Prince gave me some very vivid descriptions of big 

 game (chiefly bear) shooting, and wolf-coursing with borzois, 

 as conducted in his native land. 



