LORD HARE WOOD'S ADVICE 



After the season finished in France I went to Egypt 

 with Skeets Martin and had the usual tourist's hoHday. 

 I suppose my impressions about Egypt are not worth 

 anything but I am going to say that to me the place 

 was the greatest disappointment — but perhaps that 

 was my own want of appreciation. I often wished 

 that we had chosen Switzerland or Monte Carlo, in fact 

 anywhere else. 



In the month of February no official intimation had 

 reached me but I heard indirectly that there was a 

 grave doubt about the licence ; this was when I w^ent 

 to England in the early spring. One day in the 

 paddock at Newmarket Lord Harewood said to me : 

 " Sloan, what do you want to bother about riding for ? 

 You've got plenty of money. Why don't you settle 

 down to a gentleman's life ? Buy a stable of horses 

 and run them. That's far and away the best thing 

 you can do." 



Of course I thought it over but still I couldn't bring 

 myself to believe that they would keep me out all the 

 season. If I had known then what I learnt in after 

 years, that my indiscretions were to be reckoned 

 against me for half some people's lifetime, the whole 

 course of my life and investments would have been 

 different. With sixty thousand pounds odd and other 

 property I might have done really well, but frankly I 

 felt that other sources of income would be open to 

 me very shortly so I was careless about that useful 

 amount. How I cursed that trip to America ! 



At Newmarket in the spring of 1902 I had rooms 

 near the station. They were very handy for going 

 out and riding gallops. Most of these I did for Robert 

 Sherwood of St Gatien House, and I never felt better 

 in my life. Then I began to notice that a few New- 

 market trainers had developed a rather cool manner 



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