AND OTHER SKETCHES 241 



it was to start behind the other had speed enough to pass 

 the leader, the latter was to forfeit the stakes if he made 

 the slightest effort to crowd him while passing. This 

 agreed upon the coin was flipped and J. P. won the 

 choice. With this advantage in his favor he was de- 

 termined to be generous and, turning to Jack, he offered 

 to bet him 20 to 5 that he'd beat him fifty yards. The 

 offer was accepted, and the writer, strengthened by Jack 's 

 confidence, expressed a willingness to take the dose a 

 couple of times. This was done, then the word was given : 

 ''Gentlemen, are you ready? Go." And both drivers 

 went. 



J. P. set a rattling good pace, and evidently intended to 

 make it a hot one from start to finish, but the nose of 

 Jack's gelding was smelling of his buffalo robe all the 

 time and at the end of the first mile there was not a yard 

 of daylight between them. This position was retained 

 until within half a mile of home, and I was beginning to 

 think that though it was a mighty close struggle my ten 

 dollars was up salt creek, when, just as they reached the 

 four corners, Jack drew out, yelled like an Indian on the 

 warpath, went past J. P. as if the latter were anchored, 

 and, sailing along with a full head of steam on, waved 

 his adieus to his host. I was not in at the finish, for our 

 half bred, good bit of stuff though he was, couldn't keep 

 the pace up with two fellows in the sleigh for four miles, 

 but when we arrived home we heard that Jack landed a 

 winner by three hundred yards and that when J. P. drove 

 up to the hotel. Jack was sitting in an arm-chair outside 

 the door, cigar in mouth, and asked him where on earth 

 he had been fooling away his time. It was not necessary, 

 though, for Jack to rub it in. J. P. was the sorest man in 

 Grey county that day. It wasn't so much the money he 

 had lost that worried him, nor the free bills for four 

 hungry guests for five days, but he knew right well that 

 it would take many a dollar's worth of liquid refresh- 

 ment to wet the mouths of the kidders, and so it did. 



But when a few days later a letter reached him from 

 a friend down in Guelph, warning him not to be so ready 



