The Republican journal., 1869-11-25
BELFAST MAlNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25 1869

dollars being thus staked against six thous-
and. that CountrVs horse would not be the
winner Of the scrub race. This gave con
siderable importance to the rustic strangers.
and afforded ample material for conversation
ard mirth during the rest Of the evening,
We pass over tho first trace on the following
day. which by large number of those pres
ent was regarded with much less interest than
the scrub affair which came after it, When
Country, among others, rode up to take his
place ior the start, both rider and horse look
ed SO ungainly, awkward, and ridiculous III
appearance as to excite shouts of laughter
and derison from the whole body Of spccta
tors Including even the Judges The man
was long-haired and long-egged, and sat on
his skeleton of beast, that everybody cX-
pected TO see tumble down, with about the
same uneasy grace as a boy on a sharp rail ;
and as he urged the animal up to the starting
point with Y kick. a slap and Jerk, il became
a question with the lookers-on, whether he
would ever be able to get HIM into Il respec-
table hog galiop OF not,
"Whoa dern yer"' he cried III length,
jerking up the slim head OF the beast with
his two lines ''now stand still, will yer?h
Then glancing around him with the air of one
wholly unconscious of hci7g m object Of uni
yersal attention, mirth and ridculc, he adj
ded in u loud, clear tone. ''lyc got five
hundred dollars yet that I'll bet agin five
thousand that 'll win this ytre race and take
the prize y
He had scarcely done speaking when q gen
tleman stepped up and took the bet
A few minutes afterWard, the word was
given, and away bounded thirty or terty
horses on q four mile heat. Country, rs every
body expected, was the last to get his skinny
Il
standing his kicks, saps and jerks, he gradu-
ally lost ground against Ill the rest and
when the majority passed he Judges stand,
making the first mile. he was alone pounding
away for dear life, and Just entering on the
last quarter. When he, in turn, passed the
Judges stand, there was universal laugh
ter; and some men, unable 70 keep their feet,
actually rolled on the ground and held their
sides
''Who bets agin County winning the
price" said little, queor-boking man, edgg-
ing himself in among the sporting fraternity
| Odds OF q hundred to five We're now freely
offered against the greenholm, and all We're
instantly taken by the qnecrlittle man. IN any
amounts proposers chose to name.
Meantime the second mill was made, and
Country appeared to hold his own. The
laughter was still general and hearty as he
came kicking, jerking and humping past the
| judges stand, but it was good deal less
wild and boisterous than before.
The queer little man stillkcpt ON taking all
the bets he could get, at whatever odds the
different parties chose to name, even going
up from five against l hundred to five against
fifty, thirty, twenty and ten. A few who re-
marked his confidence il the final success OF
Country began to look grave, and mistrust
the whole affair for y cunning trick, though
| the suspicion was excited TOO late to be OF
any value to them.
The third mile showed the horses well
strung out, with Country quite near to the
hindmost, and not any farther from the fore
most than during the first mile
But rs he passed the judges stand for the
last mile, marked alteration was observed
to come over him. He lifted his hat and
made u dignied bow to the Judges, and way
ed his hand majcstically toward the specta-
tors. Then settling himself into an easy po
sitnn in hi- old saddle, lac siIe>v up the rcins
after the manner OF q finished equestrian
gave his beast one or two friendly pats on tho
neck, spoke two OF three cheering words il
his ear, and flew away like the wind.
To the unbonded astonishnent Of the spec
tators in general. and the utter chagrin o
those who had staked their money ut heavy
| odds on the issue, that thin, awkward, slab
sided, hog galloping beast, now displayed
the graceful speed of the Thoroughbred racer
and passing one after another Of the horse;
in the rear, he gradually came up to tle fore
most, passed him with ease, steadily increas
ed the distance between them, and finally
drew up alone, at the end OF the race, annie
deatcning cheers and the most uproariou:
excitement.
1t was terrible blow to the sporting fra
ternity of that region, and many of them hat
reason to remember that day through the res
of life. More than Il hundred thousand dol
lars changed hands and there We're scvera
who lost ali they possessed, betting at toolisf
odds.
"rvc hcered tell that them laughs best wht
laughs last ~ said Country, as he coolly pock
eted the ten thousand dollars which had beel
staked against his fifteen hundred. ''rv'
got money enough now to buy another hos
when this criter gins out, and hope th
next time you want to larf you'll Jest thinl
what you've made off of me, and you'll fin,
it'll tickle you u heap.
1t turned out that Country, and the tw'
men who bet on his side, were three notet
Jockeys from Texas, who had previously ~
ranged the scheme by which they so sudden
ly amassed fortune on q small capital.