ETHAN ALLEN 185 



going as fast as the first heat. Before they had gone many rods 

 Ethan lost his stride, and Dexter took the track at the very spot 

 where he had lost it in the first heat. The team soon got to work, 

 and, near the beginning of the second quarter, collared Dexter, but 

 the stallion broke soon after, and fell back, not yards nor lengths, 

 but rods, before he caught. Incredible as it may seem, when he 

 again got his feet he put on such a burst of speed as to overhaul 

 the flying Dexter in the third quarter, when he broke again, and 

 Mace had to pull him nearly to a standstill before he recovered. 

 Dexter was now a full distance ahead, and the heat appeared to be 

 his beyond all peradventure. I was watching the team in its troubles 

 very closely, and my idea of the distance lost was the result of a de- 

 liberate and careful estimate at the moment ; and the query in my 

 mind then was, whether the team could save its distance. At last 

 the old horse struck his gait, and it was like a dart from a catapult, 

 or a ball from a rifle. The team not only saved its distance, but beat 

 Dexter home, five or six lengths, in 2:16. 



"In the third heat Mace had it all his own way throughout, com- 

 ing home the winner of the race in 2 119. The backers of Dexter, 

 up to the very last, placed great reliance on his well-known staying 

 qualities ; but the last heat showed that the terrible struggle had told 

 upon him more distressingly than on the team. It is said by thpse 

 who timed Dexter privately that he trotted the three heats in 2:17, 

 2:18, 2:21. 



" If ever there was an honest race trotted, this was one, but there 

 was such a specimen of sharp diplomacy, of 'diamond cut diamond', 

 in the preliminaries, as is seldom witnessed, even on a race course. 

 It is not probable that Ethan's intended running mate fell amiss at 

 all, the evening before, as represented ; and if she did, it was not 

 possible to send to Connecticut for another horse, and have him 

 there early the morning of the race, as was pretended. This was a 

 mere ruse put out to get the advantage of the long odds. The back- 

 ers of the team knew just how the horses would work and knew they 

 had speed enough to beat any horse on earth. When the race was 

 called, and they came forward and paid forfeit, it was merely to give 

 the ' two-to-one-on-Dexter ' money encouragement to come out. 

 It did come out most vociferously, and was all quietly taken. It 

 was said John Morrissey was the manager-in-chief, and that his share 

 of the winnings amounted to about forty thousand dollars. 



"After witnessing the second heat, and studying it carefully, I 

 am firmly of the opinion the team could have gone the first heat in 

 2:12 if it had been necessary". 



