25 



friends. As before, Red Gauntlet got the better of the start, 

 and they sped over the course with Aratus close behind. 

 The boy had his instructions to let Red Gauntlet make the 

 running to the last half and then to set him such a merry 

 clip that he could not hold on. On and on they went, and 

 when they arrived at the last half the rider of the sturdy 

 Aratus plied whip and spur, but work hard as he could he 

 was unable to get a bit more speed out of the animal. Ara- 

 tus had done his best and was near the jumping off spot. On 

 the other hand, Red Gauntlet was getting his second wind, 

 as the saying is. His rider realized that the boy on Ara- 

 tus was going to make a mighty effort to win about the 

 time he did so, and he also applied whip and spur. Red 

 Gauntlet shot ahead and won by seventy or eighty yards. 

 This race ruined several of the best families of that time in 

 the South, and it will never be forgotten by their descend- 

 ants. 



