Lapwing came out as if he were going to be hanged. At the first hurdle he manifested pained surprise, stopped dead and began to nibble the furze. Blows and curses brought him to the straw-bound pole, where he again paused to munch. The gate being uneatable, however, he cleared it, pecking heavily, broke the trap into matchwood, and jammed his rider’s knee against the wall. Then, evincing a sudden passion for the water, tore up to it _con amore_, only to swerve aside at the wing, leaving Stubbs to go on in the main direction; and as splash, roar and oath ascended to heaven, returned to his nibbling. The Committee appeared on the spot like mushrooms. Stubbs was fished out, set right end up, condoled with, and, being close in front of the Grand Stand, requested to hush. But Stubbs did not hush, had no intention of hushing. Stamping and shouting, he informed them what he thought of shows in general and this show in particular. Then he was requested to leave, but he wouldn’t do that, either, and by way of reply ran a coil of lurid language round every member of the association. Men climbed down from the stands and joined the happy party, until presently it seemed as if the whole Agricultural Society was helping in the suppression and ejection of Stubbs. Harriet, white to the lips, observed “Rotter! Low-down rotter!” between her teeth and got to her feet; but when she would have made her way down, Hamer caught her by the arm. “This isn’t your job, my girl!” he said cheerfully, pressing her back into her seat. “You stick to Dandy there, and grit your teeth a minute longer. I’ll have things straightened out in two twos.” He dropped into the ring with extraordinary lightness, while his daughter slipped a hand round Harriet’s unreceptive elbow, by way of conveying sympathy and keeping her quiet at the same time. Helwise fussed down to them, dropping things and repeating the bath-theme _ad lib._ The people near began to discuss hats and servants with feverish politeness, bringing a faint smile even to the victim’s rigid lips. The Member stood up and tried to see something at the back of the stand that wasn’t there, and of course all the grinders followed his example. Hamer broke a path through the crush with his own pleasant directness of purpose. Everybody was trying to make Stubbs behave, and nobody was succeeding: neither Bluecaster, tongue-tied and ashamed, nor Lancaster, soothing and propelling, nor the High Sheriff, the Chief Constable, the Judges, the Secretary and Treasurer, the Referee in All Classes, nor the Police. It was a case of carrying Stubbs off bodily, and nobody liked to do it, for, in spite of language and check and abominable conduct, he was yet One of Us, and moreover his daughter watched from the stand. To them came Hamer the Outsider.