294 THE HIVE OF THE BEE-HUNTER. 



wistfully for a moment upon them, and exhaled a long, 

 deep sigh — whether of pity at the dejected aspect and 

 distressed condition of the whilom gallant steeds, or on 

 account of some faint notion of the business he was en- 

 gaged in, then for the first time penetrating the integu- 

 ments of his simple understanding, has not been satis- 

 factorily explained. 



Had he been aware that money was staked upon 

 him, — that he was in fact accessory to gambling, — it is a 

 question if he would not have sulked outright ; for 

 " Boots^^ although bred in a savage country, had kept 

 moral society for many years ; and must have imbibed 

 serious, and temperance ideas. But the word "go" was 

 given, and they were all three off for the 



Third Heat. — For the first time the little black 

 was ahead, both in point of fact and position. He went 

 off just as at the commencement of the race, with per- 

 haps a trifle more alacrity from practice, 



Jesse, who had been lectured upon the impropriety 

 of his brush in the second heat, so soon as the last half 

 of the fourth mile, imagined that he had done wrong in 

 taking the lead, and set about holding the pony up until 

 the others passed by ; but " Boots^'''' to the sore mortifi- 

 cation of his rider, would not be held up. He had got 

 a taste of the boy's bludgeon, and not liking its savor, 

 pushed on, despite the most obstinate endeavors to re- 

 strain his impetuosity. 



The thorough-breds this time, not only could endure 



