LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2294, 10 August 1881, Page 4

LITERATURE.

MY FIRST STEEPLECHASE.

By W. H M.

[From the Melbourne '• Sportsman."] It was the first week in July, when, having taken the honours of a graduate, after a five years' soj'iurn within the classical courts of old Alma Mater, I strolled Into the repository in Stephen's Green, to bid adieu to Henry H . who for thirty years had horsed us of Trinity. It was a aale day, and a blnnk one too ; the world was out of town. There were few to sell, and fewer yet to buy. I was about to leave the yard when old Phil, prime minister to the repository, jogged me on the elbow. ' Stop a minute — it's worth while, Bir. There's a queer one coning out —he's the demon, to be sure. Och! if ho had but ti-mper ; but here he is.' While he spoke, a rattling, dark bay horse issued from the stables. He was in the lowest condition imaginable. He was far from being handsome. The head was coawe, the shoulder thick; but he embodied some good points, and though cross • made, to an experienced eye his ' ensemble waa excellent. Archy, my best man—as honest a groom aa ever won a living—whispered : ' If he hid not the go in him. he was the biggest villain under the canopy, and be fore the animal had made the third turn down the run I had o?me to a similar conclusion. The groom stopped when he had gained the vantage-ground. ' There, gentlemen,' said the auctioneer, ' there's what I call youth and beauty; there's the make of a fortune, and no mlatak', That horse was foaled for you. Gentlemen of your figure should never cross anything but blood. This horse is young Selim; owa brother to Mouse Catcher, cousin to Morgiana, and up to fourteen atone with any fox hounds In the kingdom. Gentlemen, I put him up at fifty no reserve in this case, 'pon honour ; owner gone to the Continent and orders for sale absolute ; must sell; we must sacrifice him—say forty, gentlemen, for this beautiful, gentle animaL' •Gentle!' ejaoolated a bystander, 'and that after killing a groom.' This was rather a home hit; the auctioneer ooughed. •Hem— hem—' said he, 'rather unfortunate, but mere accident; say thirty, gent'.emon ; twenty, ten —do give me a bid.' 'Five,' cried a jingle owner; 'Ten,' add Archy ; ' Fifteen,' shouted the puffer. •Twenty,' cried I. The hammer fell, and the brother of Mouse Catcher was mine. Now, I varily believe that the whole history of Selim waa apocryphal, except the solitary fact of his having finished a stableboy. In one thing, however, Arohy and I were unanimous—that to a herring oadger he was worth the money, provided he would carry the baskets. We brought him to the country ; bled, fed, blistered and physicked him, secundum artem, turned him out upon • fine salt marsh, and left him to ' fulfil his destinies. At this memorable period of my life the north of Ireland was celeb at 3d for its sporting associations. Tha Boyne, the Ooagh, the Newtownbreda hunts, were all in full force ; and few of the larger towns wanted their own particular club. Many private gentlemen were also masters of hounds, and kept their establishments nobly. Then the glory of ' The Rangers ' was in its zenith ; their country and members were alike and extensive, and no gentleman attached to field sports within thirty miles, whose rank and fortune would authorise his admission, bat was enrolled in this celebrated club. I had been recently admitted ; their meeting was fixed for the middle of October, and the cup with other valuable pieces were then to be contested. The cup had excited unusual interest, and had been challenged by a dozen members, good men and true, each one having, or believing he had, an excellent oh»nce of winning it The race was three miles, over, Bibernice, a sporting' Anglice, a broak.neok country ; the weights thirteen stone. There were already eight candidates iu fall preparation. Six depended on their own horses—good, fat, honest weight carriers—bat two had gone to considerable expense, and had secured, at * a large figure,' celebrated racing hunters ' for the nonce.' ' what will you not do, ambition ? ' In spite of this mighty array, I bolily added my name to the list of challengers. I had a slashing* four-year-old mare, whose stride and action |were extraordinary. As there was no allowance for age or sex, the weights were certainly against her ; but I waa not the one to despair, and even to name her in the match was an honor more than worth the entrance money. August came . Miranda was in beautiful condition, and Arohy exhausted upon her training all the arcana of the racing-stable, and the experience of a life, while I dreamed of nothing but cups and conquest. Alas! these youthful visions were rudely dispelled, for one morning Miranda was found haltercast in the stable. She was dead lame, and lame she continued for many a month afterward. To me and my master of the horse this was a sad disappointment. I took myself to grouse-shooting, and Archy to whiskey and religion. Poor Arohy in the hour of business was an Indifferent Catholic, as the priest declared that from the moment a horse was put in training he never' darkened a chapel-door.' August passed, and I would have willingly continued absent. To witness the downfall of my ambition waa painful, as Miranda was incurably lame. Other feelings were paramount : I was deep in love, and at twenty-one that is a desperate concern. Rosa lived near me. I would have forgotten her, but that war Impossible, She waa an heiress, gentle and timid to a degree, and fearful of hearing she was beloved. Yet there were times when, if my advances weie not encouraged, at least my suit was listened to, and an ill-concealed satisfaction told she was not indifferent to my suit. Her coldness piqued me for a moment, and yet I left her, persuaded that of all her sex she was best worthy of being wooed and won.

I arrived ho-ne for a late dinner, discussed some old port, listened to a long story, and was musing over the misfortune of my mare, when Archy popped in his head to ask 'if I would look into the stables.' I followed him, and one glanco told me that Miranda was not to figure in the field. My eyes passed over the stalls and rested on a stranger in the corner sheeted with my own covers. Archy, with a knowing look, stripped the new comer, and the brother of Mouse-Catcher waa before me. Could this foe- he P The rakish, tattered, rejected mankiller of the repository changed into as fine a horse aa ever followed a fox-hound ! The mystery was quickly solved : Archy had visited the salt-marsh, found Selim so altered as icarcely to be recognised, took him sup and got him through physic, and ready for training. For my own part. I conld scarcely believe my eyes, and examined Selim oarefnlly to assure myself of hla identity. Every scratch npon hia legs had disappeared ; the blemish on his knee waa hardly visible He was now a sporting-looking horse, and Archy swore ' better than he looked.'

Time flew, and everything increased my confidence in the cousin of Morgiana. His speed was easily ascertained, but of bis fencing qualities we knew nothing. Any. thing -we took him at he execnted well, and intricate leaps were for obvioua reasons avoided. I had secured a gentleman to ride for me, who in steepleohasing had covered himself with glory ; and with a reasonable hope of snocess, awaited the result. And yet I never caused my competitors a thought. With the lameness of Miranda it had pleased them to conclude my racing history. They heard, accidentally, that I had purchased a horse In town, and all they knew of him waa, that he had killed a man and been bonght for a song. With thia Information they rested satisfied, and decided that myself and my man-killer were of ' no consideration.' I kept my own counsel, and when it was necessary to remove to the vicinity of the raoe-groand I procured aocommodatton for my establlshm nt at an obscure farm-house, and our incognito waa aa perfect as if we had never left our stablea.

But there was oae to whom my proceedings were not indifferent, and that one was my gentle Rosa. With all a woman's tenderness she had sympathised in my disappointment ; she knew my secret, for durs were young hearts, and what agitated one breaat could not but interest the other.

The evening before the eventful day I stole from the club-room to exchange the jargon of the field for a tete-a-tete with my pretty mistress. 'Hot with the Tusoin

grape,' I urged my passion with more tha common ardour, and Rosa listened. Ju * then her maid disturbed us, and brought me a letter that had been forwarded by expre 8. I broke the seal—death to my hopes 1 hi < rider had been thrown from a coach-box, anlay, with a broken arm, at a country inn, some ten miles distant. Rosa remarked my agitation. 'ls there anything wrsng, Arthur ?' 'Yes, dearest, I am, indeed, a lucklescavalier ; K has met with an acei dent, and Selim is consequently without a rider.'

' And will he not run then P' Half a minute determines, frequently. n« well as the consideration of half a year, and in that brief space I had formed my resolution. ' He will run, Rosa ; but with me upon hi 3 back, what chance can he have with tt.e best riders in the kingdom ooposed?' ' But the danger, dear Arthur ' ' Is not greater than foxhnnter's eacounter thrice a week.' * And is there really no more ?' I assured her there was not, and shortly afterwards bade her good night. This trifling occarr.noo elicited more from Rosa than all my studied efforts; and, when I left her, for the first time I pressed her to my bosom, and heard her murmur a prayer for my safety. Whether it was that unforeseen events call forth the latent energies of the mind, or the consciousness that I was beloved by her for whom I would sacrifice a world, that roused the ardour of my spirit, I knew not, but I qntered the crowde t clnbroom with buoyant and excited feelings. The aooident to my rider had transpired, and from some I received sincere, from others ironical, condolence. ' I hope, notwithstanding, that the homicide will run,' said the president. ' The homicide, as you are pleased to term him, will run ; and for want of a better horseman, hia owner will ride, and win—if he can.* My tone and manner waa not unmorked ; and while some were recommending me to effect a life insurance, I waa coolly booking heavy odds, and so continued till every gentleman inolined to bet them had been heartily satisfied. Morning came, and I felt rather queer; I began to discover that it is no joke for neivoua gentleman to ride in steeplechases for the first time, under the critical examination of thirty thousand spectators. But an incident restored my 7iardies.se. At breakfast a sealed parcel was handed me by the waiter; it contained a beautiful pink and yellow jacket. No note accompanied it, but to the cap a scroll was attached, bearing in a female hand the motto,' May this be foremost!' Whose might the fairy favor be ? My heart whispered the name, and I was not mistaken. The ground seleoted for the race waa chosen with excellent judgment, as it afforded to the mighty multitude an uninterrupted view of the race from its commencement to its close ; from a circular valley the surface undulated gently, and the course, nearly elliptical, stretched across the rising ground. In the same field the starting and winning posts were plaoed. This was the favorite stand; a long line of carriages of every description occupied it. Ladies were there ' thick as leaves in Vallombrosa,* for every one distingue and beautiful, for counties ronnd, was on the ground. At twelve o'clock a warning bugle waa heard, and from their respective cantonments the horses slowly approached the same point; each, as he entered the field, waa scrutinised by a crowd of horsemen, who were assembled for that purpose at the gate With short intervals, a grey, a brown, and two bays passed in review ; they had their respective admirers, but caused no great sensation, and expectation 'was still on tiptoe ; ' presently a buzz was heard, a horse approached, and Firebrand, a noted racing hunter from Roscommon, appeared. He looked to be in capital condition, and, from having won four cups already, his character was deservedly first-class. • But louder yet the clamour grew,' as the pet of the day, the far famed English horse, Comet, appeared He waa a splendid, thorough-bred cheanut, fully sixteen hands high, and ' looked every inch a racer.'_ I felt my cheek blanch as I examined him. He was indeed a formidable opponent, and as his late owner, Captain M , reputed justly to be the best field horseman in the kingdom, was to ride him, no wonder that I began to dread the contest. He waa led off, and my forlorn charger was impatiently expected. In a few minutes whioh elapsed before his entree, I and my man-killer were subjeoted to many a sporting jest. At length, the brother of MouseCatcher appeared, and on he came with a careless toss of the head, as if he had never finished a stable boy. Closely sheeted as he was, his appearance was very different from what had been anticipated. The knowing ones looked more knowing, and Jemmy Joyce exclaimed, with a grin, that he seemed 'mighty like a Tartar!" While the horses were leading to the starting post, I galloped up the hill to the place my pretty mistress occupied in an open carriage. ' Tell me, pray you,' said her cousin, • what spell is over Rosa. Know you the secret that robs her of her roses V ■' Shall I restore them ?' I replied, and, unclosing my top coat, displayed my handsome jacket. When it met her eyes, her cheeks were dyed with blushes, and left me at no loss to conjecture whence my fairy favour came Again the bngle sounded. Comet and Firebrand occupied the attention of the crowd, while Selim was stripped and saddled behind a large marquee. Xo assume my gay cap and doff my coat waa the business ot a minute. My competitors were already mounted, and I was impatiently called for, when from behind the tent a dashing horse and gallant rider issued. Our appearance elicited a murmur of applause. The owners of Comet and Firebrand looked blank enough, and they had good reason. As we drew up in line I thought the English racer seemed not to be in foroe ; but the determined countenance of the inimitable jockey, dressed in his black and buff stripes, looked alarming. Nor waa Firebrand without his friends, and the green cap waa offered freely against everything but Comet As to me, people seemed afraid to back or bet against me, and those who had laid the odds last night pretty heavily were hedging now as fast as they could meet with customers. Off we went in a bnnoh, the bays, brown, and grey making the running. I saw at once that the pace, though severe for them, was nothing to Comet, Firebrand, and my friend the man-killer. After a mile we tailed them off and had the race to ourselves. One moiety of the ground was broken into tillage-fields and enclosures; the other was open meadow, affording excellent galloping, and interspersed with stiff fences. Here, having cleared the paddocks, we increased the speed, and cima out at a killing paoe. On entering the grass-lands I found my rivals could not conveniently go faster, and that I was up to it well. The raoe was Indeed beautiful; for the next mile a sheet wonld cover us ; the fences were taken in a line, and none conld tell whether black, yellow, or green was foremost. Half a mile from home there was a fence of tremendous size ; it was a ditoh with a drain at either side, and the place that we approached was stookaded with stump thorns. It was, in truth, a 'regular rasper,' and was distingnished by the country people par excellence, as the ' big leap.' As we neared it, my companions gathered the energies of the hordes for the trial, and Selim looked as if he were half inclined to decline it; and yet, with a glorious effort he cleared this formidable barrier in a style that drew from the multitude a thunder of applause ; not so my rivals. Firebrand fell and staked himself ; while Oomet, by his rider's horsemanship, waa indifferently brought across, but staggering he came down on landing, and in the mistake lost gronnd he oonld never recover; during the ran home he did make a wonderful straggle to pull up ; it was in vain, for after we crossed the break-neck I had the raoe hollow. Amid d< afening cheers I waa carried from the scales in triumph ; I was declared, even by Jemmy Joyce, a youth of promise, and my m»a-killer the beat weight carrier In the kingdom. Every tale has it) moral; so has mine. Never condemn a horse untried, for many a good one has thus been sacrificed. I saved Selim fiom slavery and a jingle, and he won me four cups and carried me four seasons as I was never carried "afterward ; nay, more, I owe my connubial happiness mainly to my ' bonny bay.' Rosa waa an heiress, and; I a younger eon. A rich rival was encouraged by her guardian, and in a few days he was expected to make his address in form. I was

flashed with victory, and she flattered to see her fairy favourite foremost in the field. At the ball that night my eloquence was irresistible. She smiled upon my suit ; and, to end uncertainty and save her guardian future trouble, doped with ma to Gretna the next morniag.