The Life of Fred Archer 71 
sooner see come into my house than Lord Falmouth and Mathew 
Dawson." And they were the two men he had most to do 
with during his whole riding career. 
" Everything," once said his sister Alice, " was changed 
for my father and mother when their brilliant son began to 
come to the front. Fred knew we were short of money, and 
he was a most generous and thoughtful little boy. At first he 
would send postal orders for a few shillings whenever he could 
spare them. Later it ran to ' fivers,' and, of course, at last 
to big sums of money. Their hard times had never taught 
my father and mother economy, and they often ran up long 
bills, for the tradespeople always knew that they had Fred 
Archer at their back, and would trust them for large 
amounts. 
" At last a long bill would come in, and then father and 
mother at once wrote off to Fred, and a cheque would come by 
return of post. And they always used up all the money as 
soon as Fred sent it, to pay off the whole bill ; they did not 
spend some of it on other things and pay the bill by instal- 
ments. But it always went on like that ; they always owed 
long bills, and Fred always paid them. 
" Fred had a great deal of character. He was very gentle, 
but he took no liberties himself, and no one ever thought of 
taking one with him. His brothers and sisters, and indeed his 
whole family, looked up to him, and his servants, some of whom 
had been in the stable with him when he was an apprentice, 
were marvellously obedient. 
" And yet he was always so quiet. There was never any 
ranting and raving. If a groom brought round a horse, Fred 
always looked it over, and if he saw anything wrong he would 
tell the man to take it back ; the man would be off in a moment, 
and very soon back with everything all right. And the horse 
had to be round to the moment. Fred would rather be two 
minutes early than two minutes late. He got that from his 
grandfather, the old churchwarden, and certainly not from 
