SOLON ROBINSON, 1848 133 



coats oif, like going to a hard day's work. Each one was 

 to give the pumpkin a kick and a roll, and the other was 

 to mount it, dance on and over it, without tumbling, or 

 own himself and his Presidential candidate defeated, the 

 lookers on, rolling in and keeping up a supply in the 

 pumpkin market, as they became demolished by an occa- 

 sional caving in of the article. 



After about an hour's effort, it was a drawn battle ; the 

 two Generals having been floored about an equal number 

 of times, in consequence of trying to make footing upon 

 a very rolling foundation — a sort of pumpkin proviso. 



At this juncture, the corn was getting decidely low: 

 two of the tin cups had been flattened in the fall of Gen. 

 Cass, and one of the green glass tumblers having come in 

 between old Zack and the floor, at a time when the pump- 

 kin went the wrong way, had made him imagine that 

 Capt Bragg had run short of grape, and was firing 

 broken glass, a portion of which had made him think he 

 had an enemy in the rear, being decidedly damaged in 

 that region, and, withal, it was not yet settled which 

 party shoud yield. 



Hereupon Bill Smithers stumped Jim Jones to decide 

 it by a horse race. 



I had been dozing before this, but the proposition for 

 a horse race by moonlight, in the small hours of the night, 

 to settle the prospect of the two Presidential candidates, 

 seemed so decidedly rich that I determined to witness the 

 performance. 



As the horses had had nothing to eat but a rail fence 

 for the last fifteen hours, there was no danger, in conse- 

 quence of high feeding and hard running injuring them. 

 Not having time to robe myself exactly for a daylight 

 street walk I donned a buffalo robe, slipped on my boots, 

 and put out. This was a very good costume for me, but 

 a confounded unfortunate one for Bill Smithers, who rode 

 the great National Michigander. 



I didn't care so much about the starting point as I did 

 the coming out, and so I stationed myself at the corner 



