Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1871-05-12
An Unexpected Race.

cester County, Mass, used to live cler-
gyman whom we will call Ridewell. He
was Of the Baptist persuasion, and very
rigid IN his ideas of moral propriety.--
He had in his employ an old negro nam
ed Pompey; and if this latter individu-
al was not so strict in his morals as his
master, he was at least very cunning
dog, and passed in the reverend house
hold for pattern of propriety. Pom
pey was useful servant, and the clergy
man never hesitated to trust him with
the most important business.
Now it SO happened that there wee,
dwelling in and about the town, sundry
individuals who had not the fear of the
dreadful penalties which Mr.. Ridewell
preached about, before their eyes, for it
was the wont of these people to congre-
gate on Sabbath evenings upon level
piece of land in the outskirts of the vii
lage, and there race horses. This spot
was hidden from view by dense piece of
woods, and for long while the Sunday
evening races were carried on there with
out detection by the officers, or those who
might have stopped them.
1t also happened that the good old
clergyman owned one of the best horses
in the county. This horse was one of the
Morgan stock, with a mixture of the
Arabian blood in his veins, and it was
generally known that few beasts could
pass him on the road. Mr.. Rid we'll,
with a dignity becoming mis- calling,
stoutly declared that the feetness of his
horse never afforded him any gratifiea-
tion, and that for his own part he would
as lief have any other. Yet money could
not buy his Morgan, nor any amount of
argument persuade him to swap.
The church was near to the good cler-
gyman's dwelling, so thet he always
walked to meeting, and his hore e was
consequently allowed to remain in the
pasture.
Pompey discovered that the races were
on the tapis, and he resolved to enter his
masters horse on hisown account, for he
felt sure that old Morgan could beat
anything in the shape of horse flesh that
could be produced in that quarter. So
on the very next Sunday AFTERNOON he
hid the bride under his jacket, went out
into the pasture and caught the horse,
and then rode off toward the spot where
the wicked men were congregated. Here
he found some dozen horses assembled,
and the race was about to commence
Pompey 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
Pompey won quite pile, and before dark
he was well initiated in horse racing
Pompey succeeded in reaching home
without exciting any suspicious, and he
now longed for the next Sabbath after
noon to come, for he determined to try it
again. He did go again, and again he
won; and this course of wickedness he
kept up for two months, making his ap-
pearance on the racing ground every
Sunday afternoon, as soon as he could af-
ter meeting was out And during this
time Pompey was not the only Que who
had learned to love the racing. No,
for old Morgan loved the excitement of
the thing, too, and his every motion,
when upon the track, showed how zeal
ously he entered into the spirit of the
game.
But these things were not always to
remain a secret. One Sunday pious
deacon beheld this racing from distance
and straightway went to the parson with
the alarming intelligence. The Rev. Mr..
Ridewell was utterly shocked. His NOR
al feelings were outraged, and he resolv-
ed at once to put stop to the wickedness.-
During the week he made many inqui-
ries, and he learned that this thing had
been practiced all summer, on every
Sabbath afternoon. He bade his parish
toner's keep quiet, and told them that on
the next Sunday he would make his ap-
pearance on the very spot and catch them
in their deeds of iniquity.
On the following Sabbath, after dinner
Mr.. Ridewell ordered Pompey to bring
up old Morgan and put him in the sta
BILE. The order was obeyed, though not
without many misgivings on the part of
the faithful negro. As soon as the after
noon services were closed, the two dea-
cons, and some others of the members of
the church, accompanied the minister
home with their horses.
"It is the most fragrant piece of abom-
ination that ever came under my obser-
vation !" said the indignant clergyman
as he rode on.
" 1t is, most assuredly," answered one
of the deacons.
Horse-racing on the Sabbath !" ut
A.