The Georgetown news., 1855-11-22
An Unexpected Race.

In one of the large towns of Worcester
county, Massachusetts, used to live cler-
gyman whom we will call RidewelI. He
was Of the Baptist persuasion, and very
rigid in his ideas of moral proprlety. He
had in his employ an old negro named Pom
pey, and if this latter Individual was not so
strict in his morals as his master, he was at
least very cunning dog, and passed in the
reverend household for pattern Of prOpri-
ETY.. Pompey was useful servant, and the
old clergyman never hesitated to trust him
with the most important business. Nowit
so happened that there were dwelling in
and about the town, Sundry individuals who
had not the fear of the dreadful penalties
which Mr.. Ridewell preached, about their
eyes, for it was the wont Of these people to
congregate on Sabbath evenings upon a
level piece of land in the outskirts of the
town, and there race horses. This spot was
hidden from view by a dense piece of woods,
and for long while the Sunday evening
races were carried on there without detec-
ton by the officers, or others who might
have stopped them. 1t also happened that
the good old clergyman owned one Of the
best horses in the country. This horse was
one of the old Morgan stock, with a mix
ture of Arabian blood in his veins, and it
was generally known that few beasts could
pass him on the road. Mr. Ridewell, with
dignity becoming his calling, Stoutly de-
clared that the fleetness of his horse never
afforded him any qualification, and that for
MS own part he would as lief have any
other. Yet money could not buy his Nor
gan, nor could any amount of argument per-
suade him to swap. The Church was so
near the good clergyman'S dwelling that he
always walked to meeting, and his horse
was consequently allowed to remain in pas
ture.
Pompey discovered that these races were
on the tapis, and he resolved to enter his
masters horse on his own account, for he
felt assured that old Morgan could beat
anything in the shape of horSefesh that cod
be procured in that quarter. So on the
very next Sunday evening he had the bride
under his jacket, went out into the pasture
and caught the horse, and then rode off to-
ward the spot where the wicked ones were
congregated. Here he found some dozen
assembled, and the race about to commence.
POmpey mounted his beast, and at signal
he started. Old Morgan entered into the
spirit of the thing, and came out two rods
ahead Of everything. Pompey won quite
pile, and before dark he was well initiated
in horse-racing.
Pompey succeeded in getting home with
out exciting any suspicious, and he now
longed for the Sabbath afternoon to come,
for he was determined to try it again. He
did so, and again he won; and this course of
wickedness he followed up for two months,
making his appearance upon the racing
ground every Sunday afternoon as soon as
ne could after meeting was out" And
during that time Pompey was not the only
one that loved racing. No, for old Morgan
himself had come to love the excitement of
the thing too, and his every motion when
upon the track showed how zealously he en-
tered into the spirit of the game. But these
things were not always to remain a secret.
One Sunday a pious deacon beheld this ra-
eng from distance, and straightway went
to the parson with the alarming intelli-
gence. The Rev. Mr.. Ridewell was utterly
shocked. His moral feelings were outraged
and he resolved to put stop to this wick
edness. During the week he made several
inquiries, and he learned that this thing had
been practlced all summer on every Sab
bath afternoon. He made his parishioners
keep quiet, and on the next Sunday he
would make his appearance on the very
spot and catch them in their deeds of in
iquity. On the following Sabbath, after
dinner, Mr. Ridewell ordered Pompey to
bring up old Morgan and put him in the
stable. The order was obeyed, though not
without misgivings on the part of the faith
full negro. AS soon as the afternoon servi-
ces were closed, the two deaconS and some
others of the members of the church accom-
panied the ministeri home, together with
their horses.