OF THE AUTHOR. xxxi 



in again lie manifested another trait in regard to his wife. As 

 soon as the paper arrived, containing his latest chapter, he peremp- 

 torily ordered it to be taken up to Mrs. Woodruff. " For," said he 

 to us, " she reads it out to the ladies that call upon her ; and, be- 

 tween you and me, she thinks it good ! " Poor friend ! he had great 

 and just confidence in his wife's capacity ; but when ordering 

 " The Spirit " up-stairs, as soon as it arrived, much to the dis- 

 satisfaction of some who wanted to read it down-stairs, it never 

 occurred to him that he could have as many copies as he pleased. 

 His uncle George and Crepe Collins were much pleased with the 

 work as it progressed ; so were Oliver Marshall and Sun Hoag- 

 land. Some fools thought he was not the author of it ; as if any 

 other living man but he, no matter what might be that man's ca- 

 pacity, could have produced it. 



His opinions about horses and horse-matters were decided when 

 once formed ; but he was far-seeing and cautious in the making of 

 them. Mr. Bonner's gray mare, Peerless, was at the very top of 

 his esteem, his model of a fast and lasting trotter. Like Rip- 

 ton, Kcmble, Jackson, Flora Temple, and so many others, she was 

 formed by him. Dexter stood as high as any for racing-purposes. 

 Hiram amazed us when, early in that famous, horse's career, he 

 predicted that he would beat the world. Many thought him al- 

 most crazy to match Dexter against Stonewall Jackson of Hart- 

 ford, three-mile heats. Dexter's two greatest races in his hands 

 were the two-mile heats to wagons ; in which he beat Butler the 

 second heat in 4m. 56|s. ; and the mile heats, three in five, in har- 

 ness, in which he beat Butler and Vanderbilt in five heats. But- 

 ler won the first and second heats, and Eoff considered that he 

 had the money in his pocket. Odds of ten to one were laid upon 

 the black horse, and great sums were pending. Dexter was sore 

 and lame. Nothing but a mighty effort could save the race ; but 

 the great master of the art, the King of American Horsemen, was 

 behind the brown gelding, and he now displayed one more of his 

 grand masterpieces. He won the third heat. The fourth he won 

 in the unprecedented time of 2m. 24|s. ; and Vanderbilt was dis- 

 tanced. The backers of the Contraband stood aghast. The men 

 from the South Side gave a roar that might have been heard at 

 Jamaica Bay. " We have got you," they cried to the friends of 

 Butler : " Eoff is a captain, but this is the Old Field-Marshal here 

 behind Dexter 1 " Thousands were present ; but there was not a 



