The Portland daily press., 1880-07-19
At the Meet.
How Dashing Americans Capture English
Heiresses.

Derrick Dodd1
A few weeks ago we printed for the benefit
of inigent Americans in Europe what might be
called the Buffalo Bill recipe for marrying En-
glish heiresses. This week we have the pleas
ure of publishing the following extract from a
letter from London, which illustrates with
what excellent effect our suggestions for the
now conquest of Albion have been followed in =
another instance. Our correspondent says:
suppose you remember young Diffey, of
Richmond, Virginia, who came here to go into
banking house some four years ago. Well a
year passed. the bank failed, and since then
Diffey has been floating around on his uppers,
as your phonetic hoodlums Would say, looking
in vain for employment. Insfact,she had be-
come so far reduced as to travel some months
under an assumed name with circus, in
which his admirable feats of horsemanship,
such as picking up a whip at full gallop and
the like as learned by PIN at his native Vir-
ginia tournaments, astonished natives. Young
Diffey saw the Buffalo Bill article, copied in
the London Telegraph and Pail Mall Gazette.
and, despite the indignant comments OF those
papers, saw at once the point. Unfortunately
the fashionable London world was out of town
just at that time. Hearing, however, that
there was to be meet of the Cholmondeley-
Chickworth hounds at Mumblepeg- Under-the-
Hill, he at once repaired to Herring who has
charge of Parole and the rest OF the American
stable in England. and upon divulging his
plans and promising to give that intelligent
trainer a contingent interest in the speculation
the latter allowed him to take the celebrated
Kentucky jumping horse Tidy Tim, who was
also sent across the water in the hope OF getting
on a steeple chase with some of the British
cracks. Diffey took his horse up the country
by rail, and the next morning when the meet
took place, the relocated squires and country
noblemen were surprised to behold fine
looking young stranger in red shirt, instead
= III k~N& o-.I x.-s4 i =
wide trimmed Mexican trousers, jingling
spurs and high peaked saddle and sombrero
(relics of the circus), and who caracoled over
the field on an undeniable flyer. He was
soon given out to be an eccentric Ameri-
can, and at once excited the absorbed attention
of the ladies, among whom was the young
duchess or Diffenderfer and Lady Erosene
Spuds. just as the men had concluded that
no fault could be found with that Yankee
persons" riding, fox was unearthed, and in
a moment the whole field was winging its way
across the far-stretching heather, like flock
of turkeys after DEVILS darning needle. The
chase led across Little Snuffngton Meadows,
past Gunglegump Grange. Then it turned to
Bundle Bottom Bog and Great Gutfngton-on-
the-Shag, the riders took the brook by chuck
Teton Four Corners, and slowed up over the
plowed land at Sekondhande Close after ten
logger Rise. By this time tie riders were
strung out like the tail of comet or still
more resembling Fourth of July rocket in
the old country lin England all Americans
speak of the United States as 'the old coun-
try') the fox representing the cone, and the
pack the stick. AS they swung into Fliblone
Reach Dffey saw, to his intense delight, that
there was no one up with the hounds but the
huntsman, the Duchess of Diffenderfer and
himself The master of the hounds sent his
painting beast at a stiff bit of hedge on the fur
ther side of Cowcumber Coppice, and suddenly
disappeared, horse and all, into an eighty-foot
well ON the other side. Taking the leap side
by side with the duchess, ,Diffey let out the last
link in Tidy Tim, forged to the lead,
jumped his horse clear over the pack and
laid himself alongside of Puss with few
more strides. As he did this they had gained
the open ground, and they were distinctly
visible to the greater part of the distanced
riders, who had halted on the summit of Muck
lnuckingtons hole, two miles off. Suddenly,
throwing himself sideways as he gained the fu-
gitive, Diffey reached down and scooped up the
fox by the back of the neck! He then took off
his hat and gravely offered the struggling cap
tive to the electrified duchess, who by this
time had come up, and who burst into tears of
admiration on the spot. Need hint the Sc
quel? In less than week that "extraordin-
ary American" was married to the completely
fascinated huntress by the Very Rev. I. Muir
crimson Codwellin Bobberson Brown, of st.
Cymbeln-of-Cypr Gabbington-in-the-Fie Field,
Hanway-on-the-Skids, Slapham, Kent.