Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-07-06

he having not yet sufficiently recovered
his presence Of mind to disrnOunt, ssyou
ride well We had not looked for the
honor.
..Honor, siri' CAPPED parson Ridewen,
looking blankly into the speakers face.
| "Aye-for it is an honor. You are
| the first Clergyman who has ever Joined
Us in our Sabbath evening entertain
ments. fGl
s'I~I sirI Joined youl"
tsHs, ha, bal o, you did well; your
good deseOns really think you tried to
stop your horse; but saw through it; I
saw how silly you put your horse up.
But don't blame you for feeling proud
OF old Morgan, for should feel so my
self, if l owned him. But you needn't
feari | will tell all who ask me about it
mat you did your best to stop your beast,
Tor would rather stretch the truth 3
little than have such a good jockey as
you are suffer-"
ms had been spoken 80 loud that the
good deac0ns heard every word, and the
parson was bewildered; but he soon came
TO himself, and with q flashing eye, ne
cried:
''Villains, what do you mean2 Why
do you thus"
'Hold on" interrupted one of the
party, and as he spoke the rest of the
racing men had mounted their horses.
rHold on moment, paIson. We are
willing to allow you to carry off the palm,
but we won't stand your abuse. When
we heard that you had determined to try
II your horse could not beat Us all, we
agreed ameng ourselves that if you came
we would let you in. We have done so,
and you have won the race In two-mile
heat. Now, let that satisfy you. By the
hickey, you did it well. When you want
70 Try again, Just send rs word, and we
will be ready for you. Goodbye"
As the wretch thus spoke, he turned
has horses head, and before the aston
lshed preacher could utter word, the
party had ridden away out of hearing. Il
V7ss some time before one of the church.
men could speak. They knew not what
to say. Why should their masters horse
join in the race without permission from
mis- owner. They knew how much ne set
BY the animal, and at length they shook
their heads with doubt.
st is very sad, said one.
VERY" answered q second.
On my soul, brethren" spoke Ride
well, Il cannot make it out. /" The as
tonished brethren looked at each other,
and shook their heads in very solemn
and impressive manner.
So the party rode back 20 the clergy
mans house, but none of the brethren
would enter, nor would any'Of them stop
at all. Before Monday had drawn to a
close, it was generally known that ParsOn
Ridewell had raced his horse on the Sab
bath, and meeting of the church was
appointed for Thursday.
Poor Ridewell was almost crazy with
vexstion; but before Thursday came
POmpey found out how matters stood,
and he assured his master that he would
clear his matter up, and after days
search he discovered that some of these
wicked men had been in the habit of
stealing Morgan from the pasture, and
racing Sabbath afternoons, but he could
not find out who did il.
As soon as this became known TO the
church, the members conferred together,
and soon concluded that under such cir
cumstsnces, a high mettled horse would
be very apt to run with his rider when he
found himself directly upon the track.
So Parson Ridewen was cleared, but
it was long time before he got over the
blow, for many were the wicked ways
who delighted to poster him by offering
to ''ride race with him, to bet on his
head. But IS 'Ridswell grew old, his
heast grew warmer, and finally he would
laugh with good viii whenever he spoke
of his unexpected race Be sure there
was no more Sunday racing in the town.