386 THE HORSE OF AMERICA. 



were just where they started and every spectator realized a feel- 

 ing of disgust at the whole management. As soon as this had 

 time to exert its intended effect upon the crowd,, the backers of 

 the team came forward again and expressed their unwillingness 

 to have the people go away dissatisfied, and proposed a little 

 match of two hundred and fifty a side, which was promptly 

 accepted by the Dexter party; and when it was known there 

 would be a race after all the shout of the multitudes was like the 

 voice of many waters. 



"This being a new race, the betting men had to commence de 

 novo. The surroundings of the pool stands were packed with an 

 eager and excited crowd, anxious to get on their money at two, 

 and rather than miss, at three to one on Dexter. The work of 

 the auctioneers was short, sharp and decisive, and the tickets 

 were away up in the hundreds and oftentimes thousands. But 

 the pool-stands did not seem to accommodate more than a small 

 fraction of those anxious to invest, and in all directions in the 

 surging crowd, hands were in the air, filled with rolls of green- 

 backs, and shouting "two to one on Dexter." I was curious to 

 note what became of these noisy offers, and I soon observed that 

 a quiet-looking man came along, took all the party had to invest 

 and then went quietly to another of the shouters, and then another 

 and so on, till I think that every one who had money to invest, 

 at that rate, was accommodated. The amount of money bet was 

 enormous, no doubt aggregating a quarter of a million, in a few 

 minutes. 



"When the horses appeared on the track to warm up for the 

 race, Dexter, driven by the accomplished reinsman Budd Doble, 

 was greeted with a shout of applause. Soon the team appeared, 

 and behind it sat the great master of trotting tactics, Dan Mace. 

 His face, which has so often been a puzzle to thousands, had no 

 mask over it on this occasion. It spoke only that intense ear- 

 nestness that indicates the near approach of a supreme moment. 

 The team was hitched to a light skeleton wagon; Ethan wore 

 breeching, and beside him was a great strong race horse, fit to 

 run for a man's life. His traces were long enough to allow him 

 to fully extend himself, but they were so much shorter than 

 Ethan's that he had to take the weight. Dexter drew the inside, 

 and on the first trial they got the send off without either one having 

 six inches the advantage. When they got the word, the flight of 

 speed was absolutely terrific, so far beyond anything I had ever 



