38 HOESE POETEAITUEE. 



was written in the book of fate, that the prophecies of 

 those who were always ready with their "I told you so/' 

 were to be fulfilled. That season the great panic over- 

 whelmed the West, leaving thousands, who had thought 

 themselves well off, entirely penniless ; it did not take 

 long for me to realize that I was in that poor and desti- 

 tute condition, for after selling every farm and acre of 

 land I possessed, I was still five thousand dollars behind 

 hand. The house where I lived, and which cost me near- 

 ly ten thousand dollars, one of my creditors took as a 

 great favor to me at two thousand. I built a " shanty " 

 on some land belonging to a Mend of mine, moving thereon 

 my family, this horse, and two of his colts. The land 

 was entirely unimproved, but was beautifully situated, 

 and laid so that very little expense built a good training 

 track. To attempt training horses with the little knowl- 

 edge I had of it, was, to say the least, rather presumj i- 

 tuous ; but I had nothing else to do, and if my favorite 

 ever made a mark on the trotting turf, this was his only 

 chance for even a poor education in that useful branch of 

 equine accomplishments. He kept me in good cheer by 

 improving so rapidly under my teachings, that those who 

 had denied his having the least chance to make a fast 

 one, now acknowledged the possibility of his becoming 

 such. 



I trotted him a ten mile race which he won easily. The 

 stake money he had earned by his services in the stud 

 before he left home, so I was doubly his debtor. The 

 following season he had more business than he could do 

 from March till September ; still after three weeks' pre- 

 paration I trotted him a race of heats of five miles. The 

 first he lost by half a length in 14:21 ; and lost it entirely 

 from bad driving on my part, for in place of letting him 

 go along as he wanted, I pulled him back, which irritated 

 him so that he worked unkindly the whole of the heat. 



