BREAKING MY DRUM 



have squared it. Mr Rowe and I were splendid 

 friends afterwards and when he trained for Mr Keene 

 I could always be his first jockey when I was free and 

 we had many successes together. 



Mr Rowe was kindness itself to me, especially when 

 I had rather a nasty accident and split the drum of 

 my ear. One day he asked : " Would you like to 

 ride Elkins ? I hardly like to ask you as he is not a 

 very pleasant horse ; he can run, but you'll have to 

 be careful of him : he is up to all sorts of tricks." 



" That don't matter," I replied and they threw me 

 into the saddle. I was no sooner there than Elkins 

 jerked up his head, almost knocking me out and 

 altogether knocking me off the saddle. After which 

 he cleared the ground round him. Rowe wanted to 

 retire him, but I was round in a minute although in 

 great pain and I wouldn't hear of the horse not running, 

 and again they threw me into the saddle. All went 

 smoothly and I won by seventy or eighty yards. I 

 was in the hospital for some days after that : it took 

 a long time to dull the pain and make me sufficiently 

 fit to have an operation. 



I wound up the season of 1898 having ridden in 

 three months forty-three winners. It was satisfactory 

 enough, and it was with a nice sum tucked away — 

 about ten thousand pounds — that I returned soon after 

 to New York, where the newspapers had a good deal 

 more to say about what I had done. 



I felt rather odd on leaving England for America 

 once more. Many a time when I smoked a cigar on 

 the promenade deck in the morning, before the boys 

 were about, I would look forward to meeting many 

 of the old lot, whom I understood better and who, 

 perhaps, knew me better than many of my new English 

 friends, but I had it in my mind in that end of 1898 



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