RACING ON THE ICE. 23 



In a few minutes a general settling in the chairs 

 showed that every one was ready for a trip on the ice, 

 which ran as follows : 



"As I have told you the town of Z was located 



on a fair sized river. During the summer it was the 

 scene of many a boating party and fishing expedition, 

 while in the winter after the snow had drifted the 

 roads full, the bulk of the travel was done on it. As 

 soon as the Christmas holidays were over every man 

 in the town with an eye for a horse began to talk about 

 a winter meeting. It was the absorbing topic from 

 that time until the bills were out, while every horse in 

 the neighborhood that was threatened with speed re- 

 ceived as much drilling as a candidate for a Grand Cir- 

 cuit event. Also about this time what were known 

 as the 'cute ones' were apt to disappear for a few days 

 and eventually show up on the street with a new horse 

 or two hitched to a speeder. One man in particular 

 made a specialty of this for a. number of years, but for 

 some reason or other his pupils always failed to con- 

 nect. He always had the speed and could fly when 

 alone, but when he broke into company they either 

 pulled so that he could not control them or proved bad 

 actors. Each winter the old heads would gather 

 around the stove in the tavern and tell of a new one 

 that had been added to the list of misfits, and after a 

 few hot scotches or a little straight proof they went 

 home convinced in their own minds that it would 

 not do. 



"Finally one crisp winter morning the star figure 

 in the bunch of 'cute ones' appeared on the street be- 

 hind a little gray mare that stepped and acted like the 

 regulation article. She poked along with her head 



