CRESCEUS, 2:02y4 



career. Every vantage ground at the Belmunt track 

 was occupied two hours before the event of the after- 

 noon took place. Indeed, at 12 o'clock the grand stand 

 was well filled, and the club house balconies were re- 

 duced to standing room only. 



Eight thousand people were present, and the mag- 

 netic name, "Cresceus," was on every tongue. Groups 

 of men and women gathered in the club house and on 

 the lawn and discussed the probabilities of a fast mile. 

 Hundreds paid tribute to the famous trotter before he 

 was taken out for his warming-up miles. They hocked 

 to his quarters, bent on a sight of the equine w^onder, 

 and hundreds of fair hands patted the champion and 

 rubbed his velvety nose. 



Nearly every prominent horseman in Pennsylvania 

 was there, and society was there in force, all anxious 

 for a glimpse of the marvel from the West. When 

 Cresceus appeared for the great trial against time, dis- 

 dainful of the clatter of eight thousand pairs of hands 

 clapping for him, he jogged past the club house and 

 grand stand with his long, lazy stride, apparently not 

 in the least interested in the cheering, but rather in- 

 tent on the task that had been set for him. The pace- 

 maker, Mike The Tramp, drew alongside the cham- 

 pion and awaited the w^ord. After four false breaks, 

 on the fifth time down the w^ord was given. Starting 

 at a jog, with every stride the champion increased his 

 speed, until when he went under the wire he passed the 

 judge's stand like a lightning bolt. "He's off," rang 



147 



