more  his  native  heath,"  he,  three  days  after  his  arrival
there,  "  stole  away,"  and  walked  thirty-two  miles  back
to  his  home,  where  he  arrived  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morn-
ing ;  and  fearing  to  meet  his  relatives,  he  lay  down  in
the  pleasure-grounds,  where  he  was  found  some
hours  afterwards  asleep.  He  was  then  sent  to
Shinrone,  where  he  finished  his  school-days.  When
a  boy,  he  used  to  spend  most  of  his  time  with  his
neighbour  and  uncle,  Mr.  Doolan  of  Derry  Lodge,
Shinrone,  who  owned  Paddy  from  Cork,  Nabocklish,
and  other  good  chasers,  and  kept  a  pack  of  harriers.
Mr.  M'Donogh  was  generally  either  in  the  kennel,  the
stable,  or  the  pig-skin.  In  treating  of  him  as  a  horseman,
I  may  say  that  he  met  with  few  equals  in  his  many  ex-
ploits on  the  race-course  or  in  the  hunting-field.  He  is  a
real  artist,  and  combines  an  elegant  seat,  with  fine
hands,  quick  eye  for  a  country,  and  he  never  loses  his
head  ;  no  matter  how  great  the  difficulty  or  exciting  the
finish,  "Allen  "  was  always  as  "  cool  as  a  cucumber."
He  adopted  the  Chiffney  secret  of  riding  to  a  nicety.
You  may  have  never  heard  of  the  *'  Chiffney  secret,"
so  I  will  tell  you  of  it.  Some  years  ago,  a  person
advertised  in  The  Field,  "  Chiffney  Secret  of  Riding,"
price  los.  6d.  The  proprietor  of  the  paper  did  not
suspect  any  fraud,  and  several  others  were  equally
"sold,"  when  having  enclosed  the  money,  expecting
to  receive  in  return  a  book  on  horsemanship,  they  got
instead  the  following  brief  advice: —

"  The  Chiffney  Secret  of  Riding.
