92 ON THE FRONTIER. 



Habit is said to be second nature. This trite observa- 

 tion was finely illustrated by the gait, manner, and speech 

 of Double S. Except by his most intimate associates 

 Simon sober had ceased to be distinguishable from Simon 

 tight, and its not being the eleventh hour of the day was, 

 in his case, no safe rule to go by. But he was most 

 notorious for his swearing not common, ordinary, vulgar 

 oaths, but elaborate, complicated, original, three-volume- 

 novels of profanity. 



Old Simon S. attended, as he had often done before, a 

 " quarter-race," a name applied to races of a quarter of a 

 mile straight run. 



To a person only familiar with long courses a quarter 

 of a mile dash seems absurd, but an afternoon spent 

 witnessing several such is entertainingly passed ; and in 

 places where quarter-racing is in vogue it takes a tip-top 

 horse, of the kind, to be a frequent winner. He must be 

 compact, well-muscled, and active; long in his "jump," 

 and quick in his " gather ; " and, above all, his temper must 

 be good, for, in so short a distance, much depends upon 

 the start, of which there are generally many false ones, 

 often made intentionally to worry and fret the horse of an 

 opponent. 



To dispense with every pound of weight possible the 

 horses are always ridden barebacked, there being but a 

 surcingle round them, and by the lightest of boys, the 

 only use of riders being to steady the horses' heads, keep 

 them in the course, and pull them up when the race is run. 



The riding costume of the " race-boys " is white cotton 

 stockings and ribbon garters, no shoes, a close-fitting 



