RACING ON THE ICE. 239 



The other actors in this gliding panorama have pulled 

 their horses to a slow pace, and are intently watching the 

 progress of the race. As the racers pass the victorious 

 chestnuts, a clear, ringing voice t issues from below the 

 sparkling eyes : "A thousand dollars to five hundred tha^ 

 Medoc pops it to him." There are no such odds, for as they 

 make the turn in the bend of the river, they are as closely 

 locked as Grey Eagle and Wagner were in making 

 their final brush, when strong, stalwart Kentuckians 

 fainted from the excitement of witnessing the continued 

 struggle. "We catch the last glimpse of them as they fly 

 by the South Branch, and we are left to imagine which 

 "will be crowned the victor. There must be some strange 

 fascination in watching these contests : regardless of the 

 cold, we keep our station on the bridge, till the sun's rays 

 are slanting through the white vapor, and the shadows are 

 falling thick and heavy from the huge warehouses, and lie 

 in patches on the white ice. 



PEECEPTOR. And surely, any one with a spark of mer- 

 cury in his composition, would endure a good deal of cold 

 to see the trotters of a great city exercising where he could 

 obtain such a view of them. From your description, I 

 judge there is nothing in the way, save the performers 

 themselves. 



PUPIL. They have the whole river to themselves, and 

 to get on the ice, there has to be a declined bridge of 

 plank made from the higher elevation of the street. 

 Teams, and those engaged in business, never take the 

 trouble to drive down. I saw a race there once that was 

 thrilling. Two men were coming down the river with 

 horses that were very nearly matched, and the contest 

 was close and exciting. Before arriving at Rush Street, 

 the bit of one of the horses parted in his mouth, and he 

 run away. To ease the labor of driving, the man had 

 knotted the reins around his back, and they had become 



