LIFE WITH THE TROTTERS. 181 



By this time I had made up my mind that in Wilkes I 

 had an oi^x^onent that it would hardly do to overlook. He 

 did not show the slightest disposition to surrender at any 

 part of the mile, and AVedgewood only beat him in the last 

 stride, Mr. E. H. Brodhead the o^vner of Kentucky 

 Wilkes who lived in Milwaukee, was unable to be present 

 and see the gallant fight his horse made, but his interests 

 were ably represented by my friend H. D. McKinney, who 

 ably seconded Kentucky Wilkes, contesting every inch of 

 the ground on the quarter stretch and under the judges' 

 stand. Mr. McKinney protested everything that day, in- 

 cluding all the heats I won and those I laid up, telling me 

 afterward he did this for two reasons, to keep in X3ractice 

 on the law jDoints and to be sure that no technicalities were 

 overlooked. There was no chance for Johnny Grier to miss a 

 point, as Henry was there with the laws and rules. 



In scoring for the deciding heat, everybody was deter- 

 mined to get away first. The judges scolded, threatened, 

 and at last fined several of the drivers. When the word 

 was given there was a general scrimmage to the quarter 

 pole, in which everybody indulged and the hickory flew in 

 a manner to lead the spectators to believe that they Avere 

 looking at a toothpick factory in oi^eration. Deck Wright, 

 who was always famous for his ability to hurdle, outdid 

 Mmself in this case. By the time we reached tlie half-mile 

 pole, they were strung out, and the race was again between 

 Kentucky Wilkes and Wedgewood. Whether McKinney' s 

 coaching or Grier* s natural disx^osition to see how fast he 

 could drive a horse did it- 1 don't know, but if I had not 

 known Grier, I should have imagined from the way in 

 which he hustled Kentucky Wilkes along that he was a Dan 

 Mace. He out-trotted me through the third quarter a little, 

 and as we turned into the stretch, took me right up against the 

 inside fence. From there to the stand the horses changed 

 position at least half a dozen times. First one was ahead 

 and then the other, but in the final struggle Wedgewood 

 showed in front at the wire by a lieaid in 2:20^. 



