1 8 Among Men and Horses 



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man had a good opinion of me, and that was Jack Levitt, 

 who, in case of accidents, had made me concede 5 yards 

 to one of the fastest sprinters in England. Although the 

 old champion and his friend, no doubt, divided what ought 

 to have been my handicap money, as well as the bets ; still 

 Levitt was a man of real ' grit,' which he nobly proved by 

 losing his life, in a heroic attempt to save some persons from 

 drowning. Levitt's chief rival in the Fifties was Jackson, 

 who got the name of the American Deer, from the great 

 race of 20 miles which he ran about the year 1847, in the 

 States, against a large number of famous American-Indian 

 runners. Some of the Redskins kept the lead up to 15 miles, 

 when Jackson went to the front and won under two hours. 

 He is still alive and is about seventy-five years old. He 

 continued running in fine form until he was well over forty. 

 I do not think that there was ever a better long-distance 

 runner (not even excepting Hazael or Cummings) than he 

 was when at his best. An immense impetus was given to 

 pedestrianism in about the year i860, when George Martin, 

 the great hurdle race professional, brought over Deerfoot 

 alias Louis Bennett, the Canadian half-breed. Martin was 

 a fine showman, and used to ' kid ' the public by equipping 

 Deerfoot in paint, feathers, mocassins, and tights. He used 

 to then let him loose on some public running ground, like 

 that of Hackney Wick, when the supposed Redskin would 

 whoop and yell in the manner described by Fenimore 

 Cooper, while he bounded along. When Martin thought 

 he had exercised his legs enough, he used to run into the 

 middle of the course, stretch out his arms, shout out some 

 gibberish, which passed for Cherokee or Iroquois, and try 

 to stop the ' wild man,' who used to act the part to perfection 

 and take a lot of catching and holding. After running him 

 at various public grounds, Martin took him round the country 

 with a large tent and a ' stable ' of several of the great 

 runners of the time, such as Bill Lang, Teddy Mills, Jack- 

 son, Mackinstray, and Richards. This tour paid well, until 



