BREEDING THE TROTTER 



first time I ever saw a horse trot faster than 2.30. 

 It was the day Flora Temple trotted a match 

 against Ike Cook over the St. Catherines track. 

 By referring to Chester I find the date to be 

 November 5, 1859, I was then seventeen years 

 old. If I remember rightly I should have been in 

 school that day. It was a glad day for me, but a 

 sad one for Joshua Birch, a friend of mine. He 

 had come to town with a load of wheat for his 

 father, had sold the wheat, and was on the point 

 of starting for home when I saw him. He natur- 

 ally asked me where I was going. 



" I'm going to see the great trotter, Flora 

 Temple," I said. " Come along." 



" Can't do it," he said. "I've got to get home." 

 " Come along," I insisted. " I'll pay your way 

 and pay to have your horses put up." 



THREE CARD MONTE. 



I had a few dollars in my pocket and felt rich. 

 With a little persuasion, Joshua was induced to 

 accompany me. After eating dinner we went out 

 to the race track. A few hundred feet from the 

 gate was a ring of people. We went up and found 

 a three card monte game in operation. It was the 

 first one we had ever seen. Joshua kept his eyes on 

 the card several minutes and then turned to me. 



"I'm going to bet him I can spot the card," he 

 whispered. 



" Better not," I replied. " I've read about 

 such tricks. They're crooked. Those fellows 

 wouldn't do it for the fun of the thing, you know." 



7 



