Mr. R. Lee JBevan, 253 



the teaching of either of these fair horsewomen is likely 

 to be a quiet and pleasant hunter for some less coura- 

 geous daughter of Nimrod.. Though tempted at times 

 to inquire of his groom whether or no the garden rather 

 than the stable were not his more suitable vocation^ Mr. 

 Bevan little imagined that the smart-looking, oily-man- 

 nered individual he had just accepted as his stud-groom 

 had recently been an officer in a crack infantry regi- 

 ment ! No less surprised at the small modicum of know- 

 ledge displayed by his new chef than by the courtesy of 

 his demeanour, an inquiry into antecedents led to the 

 disclosure of his having been a captain in H.M's — th 

 regiment, reduced by circumstances over which he had 

 no control to the position he then held. The relation 

 between the ex-officer and his new master or rather 

 employer having speedily saifered collapse, the former 

 was invited to say what remuneration he would consider 

 sufficient to repay him for his brief service ? " Give me 

 what you please,^' was the reply ; '^ I shall return it you 

 all again."" After a lengthy and incoherent epistle to a 

 member of the family other than its head, this somewhat 

 singular incident terminated. 



Though well on his way to the confines of octogena- 

 rianism, Mr. Bevan finds that the old love of a gallop 

 after hounds is by no means extinct within him. 



The flesh may denote its weakness by an early return 

 to the comforts at home, but that the spirit is still willing 

 is shown by an occasional display of the recklessness 

 which marked his younger days. A promising four-year- 

 old continues to be an almost irresistible attraction, and 

 though the years of the purchased and the purchaser 

 may not be quite in accord, the former is speedily made 



