[350]
]‘And what was the outcome of this cow-boy treatment?’
‘They turned out accomplished hackneys. Quiet in saddle and harness, and carried a lady—as per advertisement.’
‘Oh, how nice!’ said Vanda; ‘what colour?’
‘Bright bay, with black points. Graysteel excepted.’
‘What about paces?’
‘Fast and good, remarkable trotters, but if touched on the curb would lead off on the right foot at an easy canter. Hope walked fast, but The Gaucho could never be got to do so, though I tried him for hours and days patiently. His dam, the Chileno mare, an animal of great courage and endurance, had the same failing. But like his half-brother, Hope, he could jump his own height, was absolutely incapable of falling, and had been ridden eighty miles between “sun and sun” more than once. He, too, was quiet and staunch in harness.’
‘Think they’d do in the Market Harborough country?’ queried Reggie doubtfully.
‘Of course; brooks and trappy enclosures would be a novelty, but they were clever, and would soon come to know their way about. Rails they preferred, the stiffer the better. Walls, being straightforward obstacles, they rather liked. And with twelve stone up I shouldn’t fear their being in the first flight. Hope won a steeplechase, over stiff post and rail country, against a strong field, and another half-brother, Maythorn, a son of The Premier, imported—sold to a [351] ]hard-riding friend. Morton Gray, of Gray Court, gave a lead to the Master of the Melbourne Hounds, the well-known George Wharton, over the Bootles gap, a stiff four-railer, with a “cap” on top, bringing up the height to nearly five feet, and finished a long day’s run without “putting a toe” on rail or wall. He was a fine hackney also; and, as a camp horse, a great performer. These horses were reared in the Western district of Victoria, then, as now, admitted to be, for soil, climate, and pasturage, unequalled in Australia. And now I think we have “talked horse” enough for the present.’
. . . . . . . . .
The important question of buying a few hunters had been decided. Now was the time to buy, before the hunting season set in. Mr. Banneret very properly considered that the best animals were the cheapest in the end; and there was no occasion to economise, the safety of his children being the principal consideration. A sale of hunters taking place at Tattersall’s in a few days, he secured a few really good ones to begin with. First and foremost, The Marchioness, a wonderful brown mare, for 350 guineas—rather extravagant, paterfamilias could not help thinking, but the recollection of his last bank-balance hardened his heart. She would set Hermione off, who had fine hands and seat; and as she was a front ranker with the Quorn, with faultless manners, and declared perfectly sound by two eminent vets., the cheque was handed over. Vanda was provided with the Admiral, at £180—an extremely safe, [352] ]strong, experienced hunter, that ‘you couldn’t throw down.’ ‘Just the thing for a young lady as was doing her first season,’ the stud groom said; ‘only wanted lettin’ alone, and trustin’ to his discretion, like.’ He under-rated Vanda’s abilities, however, as succeeding seasons were to demonstrate. The boys got one apiece; paterfamilias a couple—one of which Mrs. Banneret could ride on occasion, when she went to see a throw off. Their united values totted up to a sum which caused Mr. Banneret to give a low whistle, accustomed as he had become to his personal liability for fabulous amounts lately. ‘I wonder what I should have thought of such a purchase in old times?’ passed through his mind. ‘However, everything is comparative; when I gave a cheque for ten thousand for the first payment in the Bundawarra station, I thought it was an investment that required careful management and some good luck to carry through. But I little thought I should ever draw one for two hundred thousand odds, which the Hexham estate comes to—what the upkeep of it will cost is for the future to proclaim. However, I see the last accounts from West Australia show the month’s “clean up” to be a hundred and seventy thousand fine ounces, worth best part of a million sterling, with the reef growing wider and richer as it goes down. However, it seems nothing like so good as some of these Rand mines in South Africa. We live and learn. Let us hope these young people of ours will estimate their pecuniary position at its proper value. Their early education has certainly tended to that end. [353] ]The stud seems growing fast; however, there is plenty of room. They say the stables were commenced on this grand scale by the present Earl’s grandfather, and were left unfinished for forty years. He had a lucky win on the turf, and made haste to utilise it by completing the main building, where the clock-tower stands. Had he only known! But of how many men—even nations—may not that be said! Some day, perhaps, a classic-quoting critic may fire off de te fabula narratur at some member of the Banneret family, now so high above the arrows of fate!’