156 



But Little I Am was an unknown horse, who had done 

 nothing to attract attention anywhere. In the race where 

 he was entered were several good horses, and they were all 

 held above him in the betting. The odds were high and the 

 conspirators got all the money they could on the horse. 



The horses went to the post and Little I Am was rated 

 along in an easy position until the last eighth was reached. 

 Then his rider called on him and he shot ahead and won 

 nicely. It did not look suspicious at first, but when the past 

 record of Little I Am came to be considered it was apparent 

 that something was wrong. An investigation brought out 

 the full particulars. The money was all collected on him 

 and the promoters lost nothing by being caught. 



I heard of one other little case while I was in Louis- 

 ville. A big, burly man kept a livery stable on Jefferson 

 Street, not far from Sixth. He was full of the shrewdest 

 kind of tricks and never let an opportunity pass to add to 

 qis store for a rainy day. One morning a countryman 

 entered the place leading an old flea-bitten gray horse. 



"Mister,'' he said, "I want to sell this horse. To be 

 honest with you, I see he is failing and I want to get rid of 

 him. You sell him for me and take the ten per cent, com- 

 mission. Just take whatever you can get.'' 



At noon that day the man returned and was told that 

 the horse had brought ten dollars. The stableman kept 

 one dollar for having made the sale and turned the other 

 nine dollars over to the countryman. As the man started 

 to leave a nephew of the stableman invited him to go into 

 a saloon nearby and get a drink. The farmer consented, 

 having had a slight acquaintance with the stableman and 

 his brother. During the course of the conversation they 

 had over the bar the nephew learned that the countryman 

 was going to purchase another horse before he left for 

 home. He managed to telephone this fact to his uncle, and 

 about an hour later, after they had taken a half dozen 

 drinks, they returned to the stable. There the rustic made 

 known to the man that he desired to purchase a horse. At 

 once a beautiful black was led out and $25 was asked for 

 him. The rustic thought this was too high, and finally the 

 stableman consented to take $20. This was considered 

 satisfactory and the money was paid over. The country- 

 man returned home with his new purchase. 



