34 



present. A certain pride of nativity made them put down 

 their dollars on the mare that carried the colors of the land 

 over which the eagle screams and the motto of which says 

 "Hustle." 



The British taunted the Americans and then out came 

 dollars from yarn socks and every hiding place, showing 

 that the spirit of '76 was not only not dead, but was not 

 even sleeping. Mr. Ten Broeck, who was a man with an 

 immense amount of nerve, fairly poured the gold into the 

 ring on his brown mare. 



It was and anxious crowd that watched that race from 

 the grand stand, but Mr. Ten Broeck never for a moment 

 faltered in his allegiance to his mare. 



" She will win," he said firmly, and his friends believed 

 him. 



At the drop of the flag away flew the American mare, 

 setting a furious pace. Old timers fairly held their breath 

 and said no horse ever bred could stand such speed for any 

 length of time. The two English horses were doing their 

 best, but the gap gradually widened between them and the 

 flying leader, who showed not the slightest sign of faltering. 

 Indeed, she seemed to gain fresh strength with each fling 

 forward of her lithe and silken-covered form. Life Boat 

 stagered. His tail went up in the air. His race was run. 

 Elakim, with the sturdy tenacity of his Arabian sires, clung 

 on. But there was a limit to endurance. Elakim reached 

 it. His struggle was ended. He could battle no more. 

 Both horses, beaten, dropped back in the ruck, and for the 

 remainder of the distance the twinkling heels of swift 

 Prioress danced in their faces. 



Dismay filled the English hearts, and a shout went up 

 from the little colony of Americans such as one only hears 

 on the Fourth of July here at home. 



Thousands of English sovereigns were rapidly changed 

 into American dollars, and Admiral Rouse, who was the 

 judge, said Prioress was the best game animal of the year 

 in the whole world. 



Of course, the great dead heat between Domino and 

 Henry of Navarre was the greatest one of the kind ever run 

 in America, and it is still fresh in the public mind. 



