334 THE LUKE LIGHTWOOD LEGACY. 



answered in whoop and yell from the out-come. Now 

 the two horses, closely locked, sink into a slight de- 

 pression of the track, and now, with fearful speed, they 

 rise the elevation beyond. Look at Pierch, standing 

 high in his stirrups, and thereby showing several 

 inches of clear daylight between him and the seat of 

 the saddle — his elbows flattened to his sides, his knees 

 firmly pressing against Rolette's shoulders, he is lift- 

 ing him at every bound. 



A small streamer of the bounce bandanna is flut- 

 tering like a fiery meteor through the troubled atmos- 

 phere. The struggle has been fearful, but it is past ; 

 they are rapidly nearing the out-come. Col. Pierch, 

 some lengths in advance, is animating his flying steed 

 with shrill exulting cries, although his eye has never 

 wandered from between his horse's ears. His prac- 

 ticed ear has caught the thunder of his rival's tread in 

 his rear, and before him reeling, shouting in a mad- 

 dening frenzy of joy, are his friends and backers, 



already hailing him victor of the But, ah ! like all 



of life's uncertain ways are the issues of races. Well 

 said the wise man, "the race is not always to the 

 swift ;" for lo ! at that very moment an Hebrew huck- 

 ster, who, during the day had been seeking to vend a 

 limited assortment of wares to the assembled multi- 

 tude, with an eye for interest never sleeping, beheld a 

 delinquent customer upon the opposite side of the 

 tracks from where he stood. This person the Israelite 

 had been seeking throughout the day, with a fixed 

 purpose of bringing him to an adjustment of accounts. 



It formed no part of Israel's most extreme hope of 

 finishing the business then and there, but he wished to 

 keep near his debtor, to seize the first golden oppor- 



