52 The Trotting and the Pacing Horse 



president of the National Trotting Association, 

 and Colonel H. S. Russell, of Boston, the owner 

 of Smuggler. The night before the free-for-all 

 trot. Colonel Russell was nervous and we chaffed 

 him good-naturedly. There was another nervous 

 gentleman in the land, judging from the telegrams 

 to President Edwards, and that was Henry N. 

 Smith in his Wall Street office, who wanted to be 

 assured that Goldsmith Maid would be given a 

 clear field. I wrote an account of the race imme- 

 diately after the decision had been rendered, and 

 as the story has been republished in newspapers, 

 magazines, and books, it is probably worthy of 

 a place in this volume. 



" When the bell rang for the open-to-all horses 

 to appear, a buzz of expectation was heard on all 

 sides. It was known that Lula would not re- 

 spond to the call, she having made an exhibition 

 the previous day, and besides she was not in the 

 bloom of condition ; but Lucille Golddust was 

 there to battle for the Babylon stable, and she 

 was a mare of tried speed and bottom. The 

 knowledge that Lula would not start steadied the 

 quaking nerves of Doble, and he ceased to plead 

 for a special purse and permission to withdraw. 

 He thought that Goldsmith Maid would have a 



