A Sportsman at Large 177 



If I was a bugbear to my afterwards friend, Sir James 

 (" Jimmy ") Duke on the racecourse, I certainly occupied 

 that unenviable position in the eyes of the overlord of the 

 Altcar Flats ;* for this was not the first time his lordship's 

 cherished apple-cart had been upset by one of my " uncon- 

 sidered trifles " in the way of greyhounds. 



Thereby hangs a tale which I have anticipated, but to 

 which I will refer in detail later on. 



Dark Crystal won her next course very easily (and thus 

 was left in the last four) ; but to my horror, before she could 

 be picked up, she got on to a fresh hare and went out of sight ! 

 Harry was hot on her trail, but when at last he returned with 

 the bitch, he had a very long face, which was only too readily 

 accounted for when he told me the tragic fact that, though 

 Dark Crystal had killed the fresh hare, she was on to a third 

 before he could lay hands on her, and that this one had run 

 her to a complete standstill. I had hopes that a night's 

 rest and Harry's unremitting ministrations would enable our 

 puppy to go to the slips next morning in tolerable shape; 

 but when I met the trainer on the ground he shook his 

 head sadly. 



" I am afraid the bitch cannot run, sir ; she could not get 

 off her bench this morning. Shocking bad luck ! " 



" What is to be done ? " I asked miserably. 



" Well, sir, if I were you I'd see the others and try to arrange 

 a division among four. They know what happened last night 

 and will require ' sweetening/ ' 



Now the rules of coursing permit of an owner, whose 

 nomination has been placed hors de combat, giving a monetary 

 advantage to the more fortunate owners of the other sur- 

 vivors, in order to bring about a division of stakes and bets. 

 So I did not hesitate to set about the task. Mr. (afterwards 

 Sir) John Humphrey readily agreed to a division should 

 he win (as he was practically certain to do) his semi-final. 

 Dark Crystal was due to meet a puppy of Sir R. W. B. 

 Jardine's. I discovered that the baronet had gone home, 

 leaving his trainer, Beattie, with carte blanche and jull 

 authority to settle. I asked the latter if he would divide, 



* The Earl of Sefton. 



13 



