MY FIRST AND LAST STEEPLE-CHASE 143 



the new bishop has been down on him. We can 

 send for ours : plenty of time for a rough prepara- 

 tion. Thanks to the hot weather, and that con- 

 founded drill, you can still ride eleven stone. 

 There now, what more do you want ? Come 

 along to the lodge, and we will talk the matter over 

 comfortably." 



I certainly had my misgivings as to the practica- 

 bility of Dick's scheme, but knew him too long and 

 well to doubt his attempting it at all events. I 

 could, of course, refuse to join, and leave him to 

 his own devices ; but we had pulled through too 

 many scrapes together for that. To do him justice, 

 he generally succeeded in whatever he undertook ; 

 and whether it was owing to his eloquence, some of 

 his father's old claret, or both combined, before we 

 separated that night I had entered heart and soul 

 into his plans. 



We lost no time in commencing our preparations. 

 Within a week the horses had arrived ; then Dick's 

 sisters — two fine light-hearted girls, full of fun and 

 mischief — came over. After that there was no rest 

 for me. No unhappy adjutant of a newly-em- 

 bodied militia or volunteer regiment ever had more 

 or a greater variety of work on hand. Sunrise 

 generally found me in the saddle, giving the horses 

 a gallop on the sands — a performance which had 



