Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1856-02-07
AN UNEXPECTED RACE.

ceSter county, hlassacnuSebIs, useu u
live a clergyman, whom we will cal
/ Ridewell. He was of an orthodox
! persuasion, and very rigid in his ideas
of moral propriety. He had in his
employment an old negronamed Pom
pey, and if this latter individual was no
so strict in his morals as his master
be was at least very cunning dog
and passed in the reverend household
for a pattern of propriety. Pomp
was useful servant, and the old cler.
gyman never hesitated to trust him
with the most important business.
Now it so happened that there were
dwelling in and about the town, SUM-
dry individuals who had not the fea1
of the dreadful penalties which Mr..
Ridewell preached about before their
eyes; for it was the wont of these peo-
pie to congregate on Sabbath eve
nings upon level piece Of land in
the outskirts of the town and there
run race horses. This spotwa hidden
from view by dense piece Of woods,
and for long while the Sunday eve-
ming races were carried on there with
out detection by officers or others who
might have stopped them.
It also happened that the good old
clergyman owned one of the best
horses in the country. This horse
was of the old Morgan stock, with a
mixture of Arabian blood in his veins,
and it was generally known that few
beasts could pass him on road. Mr..
Ridewell, with dignity becoming his
calling, stoutly declared that the fleet
ness of his horse never afforded him
any qualification, and that for his own
part, he would as leave have any
other. Yet money could not buy
his Morgan, nor could any amount of
argument persuade 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 inpas-
ture.
Pompey discovered that these ra.
ces 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 horsehesh that could be pro-
duced in that quarter. So on the
very next Sunday evening, he hid the
bride under his jacket, went out into
the pasture and caught the horse, and
then rode off towards the spot where
the wicked ones were congregated.-
Here he found some dozen horses as
sembled, and the race was about to
commence. Pomp mounted his beast
and at the signal he started. Old
Morgan entered into the spirit of the
thing, and came out two rods ahead
of everything. So Pomp won quite
a pile, and before dark be was well In
itiated into horse racing.
Pomp succeeded in getting home
without exciting any suspicion, and
he now longed for the Sabbath after
noon to come, for he was determined
to try it again. He did 60 again and
again he won; and this course of wick
edness he followed up for two months,
making his appearance upon the race
ing ground every Sunday afternoon,
as soon as he could after meeting was
out" And during this time Pompey
was not the only one who had learned
to love racing. No, for old Morgan
himself had come to love the ex-
element of the thing, too, and his
| every motion when upon the track
showed how zealously he entered into
the spirit of the game.
But these things were not always
! TO remain a secret. One Sunday a
pious deacon beheld this racing from
a distance and straightway went to the
/ parson with the alarming intelligence.
The Rev. Mr.. Ridewell was utterly
shocked. His moral feelings were
outraged, and he resolved at once to
put a stop to the wiekedness. Du-
ring the week he made many inqui-
ries, and be learned that this thing
had been practiced all summer on
every Sabbath afternoon. he bade
/ bis parishioners keep quiet, and be
told them that on the next Sunday
lhe would make his appearance ON the
very spot and catch them in then then
deeds of iniquity.
On the following Sabbath, after din
| ner. Mr.. Ridewen ordered Pomp Z
bring up old Morgan and put him II