e evening before the races I passed with several
friends, when the chances of different ponies, and of Chalk in
particular, were discussed till a late hour. That night I dreamed that
after I had been riding Chalk, I was standing dismounted and holding
the reins, on a plot of grass surrounded with trees, while the pony
was lying on the ground. Raising his head and neck two or three times
in attempts to get up he finally struggled into a sitting position,
standing on his forelegs but with his haunches on the ground, and then
sank back dead.

The dream was so vivid and left such an impression on me, that by way
of conversation, and without attaching the slightest importance to it,
I related the circumstance in practically the same words as employed
here, to a Russian friend, who accompanied me early next morning to
the course.

Again, on the grand-stand, a quarter of an hour or so before the races
commenced, I laughingly told a son of the Dutch minister of my dream,
explaining the circumstances and the scene in full.

Looking in the pink of condition, Chalk came out for the first event,
one mile, and won hands down by several lengths. After dismounting in
the enclosure and weighing in, I was being convoyed by my friends to
the bar in order to celebrate the victory in champagne, when I heard
someone say, "Look at Chalk!"

Turning round, I saw him staggering backwards as if he had been struck
a heavy blow on the head. As I rushed forward and seized the reins by
which the mafoo had been leading him, he fell to the ground, and there
on the club lawn, surrounded with trees, exactly as seen in my dream,
he attempted to rise two or three times, eventually getting into a
sitting position, and then falling back was dead in less than ten
seconds.

My Russian friend was aghast, and pressed into my hand a small coin,
which he said would keep off the evil spirits, but I was then too much
concerned at the loss of my favourite to pay heed to either spirits or
dreams, although I had instantly recognised both the scene and the
locality, the only difference being that the sympathising crowd which
now pressed round me and my fallen steed had been absent in the
vision.

I am not a believer in dreams, and possessing an excellent digestion
but rarely have any, and for this one can offer no explanation beyond
that it was a most remarkable coincidence.

At the time it created quite a mild sensation amongst the European
community, while