136 THE GOLDSMITHS. 



in any field in which she was placed. The only thing 

 she seemed to be cut out for was to run races at night, 

 which she was indulged in for years, much to the 

 pecuniary discomfiture of the hapless youth who was 

 indiscreet enough to bet against her. The manner of 

 arranging for the nightly races certainly didn't come 

 within the rules since adopted by the Turf Association, 

 but was equally as effective. There was no pool-sell- 

 ing in those days. The "lookers-on in Venice" were 

 interested owners, generally, of the competing horses. 

 The purse, or rather the arrangement, was made in a 

 grocery store on Mr. Decker's farm, in the early part 

 of the evening, and the race to come off after Mr. 

 Decker had gone to bed. Then the mare would be 

 quietly slipped out of her stable, or spirited out of the 

 field and taken down on the flat and duly entered. 

 The knowing ones knew on which horse to bet their 

 extra cash, for there was no hippodroming then, and 

 it was only when a green outsider was roped in that 

 the local pocketbooks assumed phlethoric proportions. 



She had a strange freak that she indulged herself 

 in about once a month. It consisted in her making a 

 circuit of the neighboring country, jumping over 

 fences, running through fields, regardless of what 

 they contained, up and down hills, across dale and 

 streams, and finally winding up in the field from which 

 she started. This circuit was about six miles in extent 

 and occupied about forty minutes. 



John B. Decker sold the Maid to his nephew, John 

 H. Decker, for $350. He in turn sold her to William 

 Tompkins, known as "J erse y Bill," for $650. The 

 next day he sold her to Alden Goldsmith for $1,000 and 

 an old buggy, worth about $60.- He placed her in the 



