irty feet at one stride!
There are the marks to this day, for Tony McKeon, in his pride,
measured the ground, and put in stakes to point out the spot where
his mare showed herself so worthy of all his trouble.

Brickbat had quarrelled with some of his namesakes at a wall, and was
now nowhere; Diana still persevered, and got well over the big fence,
but her chance was out, unless some unaccountable accident happened
to the three other horses that were still running. On they went;
there were only three more fences, two small banks, and a five foot
wall. Thunderer and Miss Fidget neck and neck took the two banks, the
big horse making awfully high leaps at them, Playful nearing them
at every stride, galloping over the banks as though they were but a
part of the level field. Now for the wall. "Now, Nicholas Blake, now,
show them how little they think of a five foot wall in Galway. Faith
though, Larry's first--bravo, Roscommon!" He's over, and a couple of
bricks only falling show how lightly Miss Fidget touched it with her
hind feet; not so Thunderer; again the horse made an awful leap, but
the pace had been too much for him, he struck the wall violently
with his knees, and, bursting through, gave Blake a fall over his
shoulders. Galway, however, was soon in his saddle again, but not
before Bob was over, and had long passed him.

And now there was a beautiful race in between the two mares; and
oh! how charmingly both were ridden! But though Miss Fidget was so
favoured in weight, and had begun with the lead, her elder rival
collared her, and beat her at the post by a head. "And why shouldn't
she win?" as Tony said in triumph to his friends, "for hadn't she the
dhrop in her? wasn't she by Coriander, out of Pink, by Highflyer? Of
course she'd win--hadn't he known it all the time?"

"That's all very well," said Larry, as he stood with his saddle in
his hand, waiting till Bob got out of the scales, "it was only her
d----d long nose and neck that won after all, fur I'll swear my head
was past the post before Bob's."

"Well then, Larry, we'll make a case for the stewards, whether it's
your head or the horse's the judge should go by."

"There's two of 'em," whispered Gayner, "wouldn't know if you were to
ask 'em."

Thunderer came in third, and a couple of minutes afterwards,
Diana;--and Pat Conner, when he was laughed at as to his place, truly
boasted that at any rate he was the only one that had been able to
ride round the c