THE SANDPIPER. 239 



mare, Big Fanny, second; Jessie Ballard, third; a horse 

 driven by Kelly, "The Geyser" and Kit Curry bringing 

 about even money, while "The Sandpiper's" mare, Kath- 

 arina, could not be given to anybody at any price. 



The persistent demand for Kit Curry tickets had the 

 inevitable effect — always trust a pool-buyer to catch on to 

 any good thing — and she steadily rose in price until the 

 last quotation was that she was selling nearly even with 

 Richardson. We had something over $1,300 invested, 

 which stood to win about $5,500. 



I did not just fancy the attitude of my driver in the 

 sulky and the little brown mare appeared awfully dump- 

 ish. At that time Kyger had never driven for so much 

 money in his life, and he looked just a little outclassed. 

 So I instructed the chairman of the finance committee to 

 stop further operations until after one heat had been 

 trotted. 



"The Sandpiper," gay as a "queen of the May," was 

 looking at the ladies in the grand stand, the Judges and 

 reporters, and studying astronomy, and nearly ran over 

 two or three of his opponents. It was a big day for this 

 country. He was the hero of the hour, and somehow his 

 confidence threw a shadow over the certainty of my 

 revenge for the high-priced gravel. 



Thev scored three or four times and Katharina came 

 to the wire like a "run-off horse," while the old man went 

 the whole length of Kit Curry's back, with his whip, 

 to make her come at all. It looked like the gravel was still 

 high-priced and everybody was cheering the Dutchman, 

 while Kit Curry and old man Kyger did look like a rather 

 cheap combination. 



There were ten starters. In the first heat J. B. Rich- 

 ardson, the favorite, choked and fell at the half-mile pole, 



