LIFE WITH THE TP.OTTERS. 41 



ship liiiii home, not thmking it possible that he could start. 

 Mr. Simmons left for New \ork that night, and I was to 

 ship the horse the following day ; but on going to the 

 stable in the morning I was greatly surprised when Mike 

 Ward told me that he thought Kansas wu s not as lame as 

 he had been before his race. On jogging him I was pleased 

 to find that Mike was right, and that my plans could be 

 changed. So I shipped the horse to Springfield, and on 

 getting there found the track soft and pliable, so that I gave 

 the Chief two slow miles two days before his race. I moved 

 him the last quarter of the second mile in 34J seconds. 

 Mr. Simmons said that was good enough, and if they could 

 beat him the day of the race they could have the money. 

 Of course we had seen the entries, and among them was 

 the stallion Smuggler, that at Buffalo, in a $10,000 purse 

 won by Thomas Jefferson, had taken the |irst and second 

 heats in 2:22|^, 2:20|. Another to start against us was 

 Fleety Golddust, that had beaten the Chief a race at Buf- 

 falo ; so that we knew that at least two of our ox)ponents 

 were good, under favorable circumstances, for a mile close 

 to 2:20. But we figured on the advantage of the track, 

 and we knew our horse was game and a first-class actor. 

 Mr. Simmons said : "The" short turns will puzzle Smuggler. 

 He will hardly get around them without making a break, 

 and that will cost him his chances of the race. The deep 

 track will make Fleety give it up before she has won three 

 heats." 



We decided to lay ui^ a heat at Springfield, as usual. 

 Tliere was a great deal of scoring, Smuggler being unsteady; 

 but when w^e finally got away Fleety Golddust showed in 

 front and was never headed, winning in 2:25. There was a 

 lot of scoring for the second heat, but at last they were sent 

 away with Kansas in foui th place. Fleety Golddust led as 

 usual, and after turning into the back stretch I sent the 

 Chief along, because the back stretch of the Springfield 

 track was then very long and the home stretcli short, so 

 that I wanted to make the light early in the mile. The 



