380 RACEALONG 



see. There is no mistake about this, as I have 

 since learned from his neighbors that she was a 

 Clay colt. Philips further stated that the dam of 

 the mare was got by a horse called Highlander, a 

 good horse, and owned in that section of country. 

 I have no doubt about this, as there was such a 

 horse in that section about that time. When I go 

 to Buffalo, where Gilbert now lives, I may be able 

 to get at more facts in regard to your inquiry, and 

 if I can get hold of anything that will give more 

 light on the subject before I am down in New 

 York, I will drop into your office to see you. 



J. S. Lewis." 



"The receipt of this letter, so straightforward and 

 clean-cut in its statements, developed a mystery that 

 was incomprehensible to me. Dates, names, places, 

 circumstances, all stand out as evidences of the truth 

 of the representations, and also as evidences that 

 Mr. Lewis had fully investigated the matter, and 

 given the results of his investigations to his friends 

 in this city ; still, those friends had never heard the 

 facts, or had entirely forgotten them. As there was 

 a strong prejudice against Clay blood in certain 

 quarters, it occurred to me that possibly that cross 

 had been left in abeyance so long that it really had 

 been forgotten. This did not clear up the mystery, 

 however, and I determined to have the whole matter 

 investigated from a different starting point. I sub- 

 mitted the matter to John P. Ray, a very capable 

 man, and he kindly and without reward undertook 

 the investigation. The Philips family lived in the 



