AND OTHER SKETCHES 81 



THE DOCTOR'S PRACTICAL JOKE. 



The late Doctor Coleman, V.S., of Ottawa, generally- 

 had something in his stable that could go a little, and no 

 man enjoj^ed a bit of sport better than he. I remember 

 one win of the Doctor's over in Ogdensburg that netted 

 him quite a few dollars, and if his friends did not have 

 their share of the good thing it was not his fault, for 

 no owner was ever more liberal in telling what he knew 

 of his horses than he, but in this particular case, though 

 the vet thought he had a good fighting chance, it was 

 really an extraordinary chapter of accidents that gave 

 him the victory. 



It was a steeplechase for horses four times around the 

 field inside of the half-mile track at the Burg, and out 

 of the sixteen entries there were thirteen starters. Jack 

 the Barber, then the property of the late Mr. Joe Grand, 

 was one of the starters, so also was Blackbird, Viley, N. 

 P., Barebones, Rathowen. Coleman had a big brown horse 

 whose name I have forgotten for the time, and in the pool 

 selling the night before the race and up to the hour of 

 starting on the track he never brought more than a dollar 

 in $25 pools. At this odds his owner gathered in about 

 a score or so. Early in the race Jack the Barber fell at 

 the water jump. Viley went down at the same place. 

 The second tinie around Barebones ran out, and on the 

 fourth round, when the contestants should have swung 

 out on to the track, they all, with the exception of the 

 young fellow on Coleman's horse, kept on in the field. 

 The big brown chap was a very tired horse, but he was 

 fully sixty yards ahead on the home stretch before any 

 of the others left the field, and though dying away at 

 every jump, he lasted long enough to secure the verdict 

 by a length, putting over five centuries in his owner's 

 pocket by his lucky pool buying. 



