20 THE BEGINNING. 



a dog fight to buying a fire engine. The squabbles 

 between the people on each side of the river were all 

 that ever kept that town alive, and were I to enter into 

 them and relate how the boys would fight on the 

 least " 



"Oh, cut it, cut it," broke in the husky one. "Bring 

 out the horse." 



"Thanks for touching the button," continued the 

 story teller. 'The story of the race is soon told. They 

 were off after a couple of breaks and as they started 

 the crowd began to follow them around the hill, each 

 man and woman — there were a few of the latter pres- 

 ent — and an avalanche of small boys cheering them 

 on. At the finish they were heads apart, the bay being 

 in front. Sorrel Billy's rider claimed that he was 

 crowded on the back of the hill. The judges could not 

 see it and as patrols were not thought of, all of the 

 people on Sorrel Billy's side of the river, and they were 

 in the majority, as the track was located in their 

 territory, crowded around the judges' stand and de- 

 manded a decision in his favor. The followers of Bay 

 Frank were equally determined to have the stakes and 

 contended that he won. It looked as though there 

 was going to be a riot, when one of the judges, a big 

 red-faced individual standing fully six feet and built 

 with a girth which always made me wonder how he 

 managed to climb up the ladder into the stand, waved 

 his hand for silence. When the tumult subsided he 

 said: 'The judges have decided that the race just 

 run is a tie and that it will be run off at three o'clock 

 to-morrow afternoon.' A few cheered, several 

 whistled and a number growled, but when the horses 

 were led away, they all disappeared. 



