on.

Buttar came up and congratulated Ellis in the same way, and gave him a
hint or two how to sit and manage his steed, which he saw that he
wanted.

"Ah, ah, capital, capital!" exclaimed Tom Bouldon, as he rode up on a
big carriage-horse. "Really, Ellis, you are to be envied. That is just
the little beast I should like to have had. How I am ever to make my
fellow go along I don't know. You won't change, will you?"

Ellis laughed. He certainly did not wish to change. At the same time,
had it not been for the observations of his friends, he felt that it
would have been wise not to have ridden the race at all.

Instead of a bell, a horn was used to guide the proceedings. The horn
sounded, and the steward of the course requested the spectators to
arrange themselves on either side of a wide, open glade, at the further
end of which there was a clump of trees. Round this clump the racers
were to go, and to come back to a tree near where the party had dined,
which was to represent the winning-post. The next thing was to place
the racers at their proper distances. All were at last arranged.
Ernest, Buttar, and Bouldon, who could ride well, were in high glee, and
it must be confessed that they thought very little about poor Ellis.
The gigantic steward of the course having ridden over it, to see that
all was clear, retired on one side, and taking his horn, blew a loud
blast; that was for the donkeys to start. Away they went, kicking up
their heels, but making good progress. Two blasts started the
cart-horses, three the carriage-horses, four the ponies. They, of
course, afforded the chief amusement. Whips and heels were as busy in
urging them on as if the safety of a kingdom depended on their success.
The riding-horses came last. The owners had entered them more for the
sake of increasing their numbers than for any wish to beat the rest,
which they believed they could easily do. Away, away they all went; if
not as fleet as the racers at the Derby, affording far more amusement,
and as much excitement, in a much more innocent way. The pony on which
Ellis was mounted did not belie the good opinion Ernest and the rest had
formed of him. As soon as the horn, the signal of the ponies to start,
was sounded, off he set, and very soon distanced all, except Ernest's
and Buttar's steeds, which kept up close behind him.

"Bravo," shouted Ernest, delighted at his friend's success. "Keep him
up to it, and you'll win th