The Last Race of Lexington 301 



' Where are they now ? Ah, there they fly round 

 first turn ! By heaven, Lecompte is overhauHng 

 him !' 



"And so he was, for on entering the back- 

 stretch of the second mile the hero of 7.26 

 made his most desperate effort, reaching first 

 the girth, then the shoulder, then the neck of 

 Lexington, and finally, when he reached the 

 half-mile post, laid himself alongside him, nose 

 by nose. Then the mass, which during the few 

 seconds of this special struggle had been breath- 

 less with hope and fear, burst into a shout that 

 rang for miles, and amid the din of which 

 might be heard here and there, 'One hundred 

 even on Lecompte ! ' 



" But this equality was only for a moment's 

 term. Lexington threw his eye jealously askant; 

 Gil Patrick relaxed a little of his rein, which 

 up to this time he had held close in hand; 

 and without violence or startling effort, the 

 racer of racers stole ahead, gently, but steadily 

 and surely, as before, until he drew himself 

 a clear length in the lead, in which position 

 they closed the second mile. Time, 1.5 1. 



" Again the hurrah rises as they pass the stand 

 — 'One hundred to seventy-five on Lexington!' 



