156 MY FIRST AND LAST STEEPLE-CHASE 



doubled in and out, to avoid the merciless whips of 

 their pursuers ; and when at last they were driven 

 off, the people broke in on the line, and the whole 

 place appeared one mass of inextricable confusion, 

 until the priest, accompanied by the stewards, was 

 found. The fisherman certainly had not belied his 

 reverence. More than once I saw his whip descend 

 with a vigour that made itself felt even through 

 the thick greatcoats worn by the peasantry, causing 

 the recipient to shrink back, shaking his shoulders, 

 and never feeling himself safe until he had put the 

 nearest fence between him and the giver. Soon 

 his stalwart figure, mounted on a stout cob, was 

 the signal for a general suave qui peitt, and the mob 

 gradually settled into something like order, leaving 

 the course tolerably free. 



Six horses came to the post for the first race, 

 which was about three miles on the flat, the priest's 

 of course being the favourite, and with reason. It 

 was a magnificent dark chestnut, with great power and 

 symmetry, showing the " Ishmael " blood in every 

 part of its beautiful frame, Dick's hunter, although 

 thorough-bred, and with a fair turn of speed, look- 

 ing like a coach-horse beside it. The only other 

 competitor entered worth notice was a light bay, 

 high-bred, but a great, staring, weedy-looking brute, 

 evidently a cast-off from some racing stable. 



