1 40 In Scarlet and Silk 



own opinion of it when I say that he was a 

 shade under fifteen — though, as far as I know, 

 the great gentleman rider never actually put 

 him under the standard. Mr. Ede showed 

 great patience and skill upon Mr. William 

 Blencowe's Acrobat, a horse with a most 

 extraordinary temper. I have a letter by 

 me now in which Mr. Blencowe tells me how 

 he became possessed of this singular animal. 

 " I went," he writes, " to Mr. Bennett of 

 Stone Castle to buy a charming hunter, 

 Othello, and seeing a big bay horse in the 

 stable, with fired hocks, I remarked, ' This is 

 the sort I want to win some hunt steeple- 

 chases with. What will you take for him ? ' 

 Mr. Bennett laughed, and said that if I could 

 ride him out of the yard he would give him 

 to me. I had him saddled, and rode him 

 out without his giving any trouble, though 

 I dared not touch his mouth. After some 

 joking about my present of a horse, I 

 eventually gave eighty guineas for him. He 

 won me seven steeplechases. In fact, he 

 always won when in good temper. He won 



