AND OTHER SKETCHES 95 



After backing her out of her stall the old fellow strad- 

 dled her, and with his long legs hanging almost to the 

 ground and his upper works swinging backwards and for- 

 ward, the combination was in the highest degree 

 ludicrous. Marching around to the front, he walked the 

 nag into the bar, and a second time sung her praises. 

 The crowd, as before, jeered at the idea of her being 

 able to run fast enough to keep herself warm and soon 

 were jibing the old fellow at such a rate that, apparently 

 grown reckless by their teasing, he offered to run his 

 mare a quarter of a mile for a hundred dollars against 

 any horse owned by any one of the company. Quick as a 

 flash Charles Gates was on his feet, and though some 

 objected to making a match with a man who was un- 

 doubtedly too drunk to know what he was doing, he him- 

 self insisted on ''putting up the stuff." Charles Gates 

 responded, and matched Yellow Rose against the ash- 

 gatherer's mare, the race to come off next afternoon. 

 Before separating for the night, the ashgatherer, still 

 stowing away the corn juice, emptied out his pockets and 

 increased the main stake to one hundred and seventy-five 

 dollars a side. 



Next afternoon a big crowd assembled at the track to 

 see the fun, and though all the horsemen around the place 

 laughed at the idea of there being any betting on such a 

 one-sided match, a couple of strangers, both of them 

 apparently on a spree, kept taking the 10 to 4 as if in a 

 drunken frolic. Arrived at the track the old peddler 

 unharnessed the mare amidst a running fire of chaff, and 

 opening up a box under the seat of his wagon, he drew 

 out a racing saddle and a suit of jockey clothes and, 

 appealing to the crowd to know if there "weren't any 

 youngsters around there that could ride a leetle bit, ' ' his 

 invitation was accepted by a boy, a stranger to the crowd. 



In a few minutes he was rigged in jockey costume and 

 Gates' mare being also ready, they were led to the score. 

 Without much delay the word was given. The first jump 

 took the peddler's mare half a length to the good, and 

 without an effort she beat Yellow Eose two lengths at 



