326 THE LUKE LIGHTWOOD LEGACY. 



thing for nothing, but usually nothing for something. 

 Like the majority of the flotsam and jetsam of crea- 

 tion, imbued with the ideas of sudden wealth without 

 toil, he turned towards New York, wooed the fickle 

 goddess of fortune and lost. Too proud to return 

 home after everything was gone, he secured employ- 

 ment as caretaker of a no account race horse. This 

 took him to the race track, where, after learning to 

 ride, he became an exercise boy, and finally a full- 

 fledged jockey with a silk jacket, cap and top boots. 

 As he was light, had age and good hands, Luke soon 

 found steady employment, and in time rode in races 

 on nearly all of the tracks between New York and 

 New Orleans, while he also made a trip into Texas 

 and the adjoining states, and I should infer by the two 

 stories which he left that he also, for a short time, 

 made an attempt at practicing law there. 



Luke Lightwood's turf career closed on the old 

 Beacon course in New Jersey. He was schooling a 

 horse over the jumps when it stumbled at a sod bank, 

 rolled on him and broke a bone in his hip. From that 

 day he was a cripple, or old "Dot and Carry One/' as 

 he said, with a sad smile. As soon as he was out of the 

 hospital Luke found work about the gambling rooms, 

 his temperate habits and tidy appearance guaranteeing 

 him steady employment. 



Whenever I had occasion to cross the Battery on 

 "Luke's hours" I always stopped to talk with him, 

 and one day, after we had become chummy, he told me 

 that he had two articles on racing very different from 

 any I had ever seen ;that he had published them, or in- 

 tended to publish them, I do not now remember which, 

 and that he would give them to me if I cared to have 



