American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-01-25

owners of the horses and the more favored
! of their friends. OF course, the colone
was there, encOmpassod by his friends
some of whom were vainly seeking tx
penetrate his reasons for preferring thu
strange mare to the old and tried favorite
Jack. Antoine VeZan was standing few
yards away. earnestly advising his Jockey
to guard against "le colonies Bessie" anC
every few minutes consulting his betting
book
The track was oval in shape, and every
foot around its circling length of three
miles was crowded with anxious specta.
tors, impatiently awaiting the opening OF
the race. Suddenly terrific and far.
| reaching roar heralded the advent of the
horses, and the noise became dea ening as
Etoile appeared in sight-a dun mare be-
strobe by diminutive jockey dressed in
buff and black. Following Etoile came
| SIX other racers prancing, capricOling, and
champing playfully at their bits; last of
| all appeared Bessie, with Redlips i'm the
tiny saddle. Her dress consisted of tight
but inflexibla leggin2s, and short jacket
of blue silk, slashed with crimson her
braided hair lay gathered in lustrous
| knot behind her ears, and was securely
| fastened by narrow crimson ribbons.
''Tiger Tor Redlips!'' was yelled up and
down the long lines of admiring lockers
on, and the girl rose i'm her stirrups and
| kissedher hand, which trembled like a
leaf, while her sparkling eyes were filed
with a strange fiery light.
Stepping to Bessie's side, Ringeur
| handed Redlips flask of brandy, which
she eagerly drank from, and then re-
| turned with a short ''Thanks.''
LEAN over, my beauty" anu she bent
her head on Bessie's neck.
''Be careful, Redlips. Ride to orders
to Ordersl First mile, hold in let slip
some OH the last half of the second, then
Milo homo lilo chntf aII nj
Ringeur patted the mares neck and TANKS.
| who whinnied, paved the ground and
playfully kicked in recognition of the Ca
resses.
For the next hour nothing was accom-
plished but the laying of wagers, great
and small. Ringeur and VeZan mutually
agreed to increase the previous bet OF five
thousand dollars to eight thousand, and
the colonel accepted various other chal-
lengers DESTROYS of betting against Bes-
sic. The crowd generally, however,
seemed to be afraid of the strange mare,
though Bessie was heavily backed by sew
eral veteran jockeys on account of her
rider, ''the Digger gal who had never lost
one race out of fifty!''
"Whang!" and those Obstructing the
course crcpt hurrfedly under the barriers,
while the wires undtr which the racers
were to pass were drawn from the judges
stand to post opposite.
''Whang!" and the eight horses wheeled
about, and trotted fifty yards farther down
beyond the stand.
''Whang!'' and the eager racers sped
toward the wire, and two-Etoile and
Jack-were even past its boundary, when
a fresh signal sent all back to their places
for fresh start. These preliminaries
were repeated several times, and fully an
hour was consumed before they all start
ed fairly together. 1t was a thrilling
sight to see them fly along, neck and
neck, for few moments, then begin to
scatter. The greatest interest was CEN
tered in Jack, Etoile and Bessie, and to
these we shall pay undivided attention,
promising that. at the outset, Colonel Rim
geur had clambered up on the stand be-
side the Judges; whence he could take in
the whole course at a glance.
Jack led the van from the start, Etoile
was a noses length behind him, and Bes-
sic full length behind Etoile. For the
first mile these relative positions remain
ed unchanged at the first half of the Sc
cOnd, EtOile was neck and neck with
Jack, while Bessie had fallen behind
nearly another length the last half of the
second mile saw EtOile half length in
advance of Jack, and Bessie's nose almost
touching EtOile's hind quarters. At this
momentous instant Ringeur sprang from
the stand into the course, and rested his
right hand on the butt of his long navy
revolver. All eyes, however, were riveted
on the racers, and his action excited no
comment except, indeed, that Charlie
Tauter. who stood close by turned rather
pale and edged nearer to the wa'chful
colonel.
In the first half of the third mile, Etoile
still led, with Bessie's nose at her saddle
girth, and Jack a full length behind.
Suddenly, Bessie shook her head vicOusly,
sprang sideways, and nearly stumbled. A
frightfIl imprecatiOn barst from Ringeur's
pale lips, and he exclaimed, in husky,
grating tones
baked my mare! Don't we see her saw
ing on the off rein? Curse her! Curse |
hcr!''
Drawing his revolver, Ringeur crooked
his left arm as a rest, and leveled it at
Redlips' heart. By this time the horses |
were on the home-stretch-Etoil and
Jack neck and neck, Bessie length and
a half in the rear.
''Whang!'' and cry of horror rang
ont on the air as Redlips threw up her
arms, screamed family, and tumbled out |
of the saddle to the ground. All this !
took place in far less time than l can re-
count it.
Freed from her rider, Bessie sprang for
ward like lightning, passed Jack and
Etoile, under the wires three lengths in
advance of them all, and whinnied as she |
rubbed her pink nose on the cOlonel's |
shirt.
The scene of confusion that Immediately |
ensued was appalling. Hurting aside a |
Chinaman standing in front of him, Tau
ter, blind with rage, fired twice at Rim |
geur, and missed both times, whereupon |
the colonel cried, snow, Tauter, you've |
had your shots; hold on while, and I'll |
give you square fight tomorrow. l
want this other affair settled first" No |
sooner had Ringeur fired than he was sur
rounded by his friends. who, in accord |
ance with Western custom, were bound |
to prevent him being arrested or lynched. |
Turning to the judges, who had remained |
calmly stOical and apparently needless of
all that passed. the colonel exclaimed:
''NOw, jedges, hand over my stakes. |
Y e saw the gal trying to break my mares |
pace, and We heard me tell her fore she |
started to ride to orders and pile in on the |
She's been bribed, and |
can prove it. But l want the stakes,
then I'll back Bessie with my whole pile |
thousand Mexican dollars
against any horse i'm the country, and give |
any horse or mare full three lengths."
Comparative silence reigHed for few
minutes after this speech, and the Judges
ton, after which the spokesman rose and |
said:
'WalI, kernel, after some scrimmagin
were decided this hyar race to be "a draw.
We intend to consider the point as to
whether the race shall go on again to
morrow. There's no doubt the lniun
played Il foul hand, and deserved what she
cot, and we kinder think your mare
would have easily won, but until we've
had time to talk all the points, wen re-
tain the stakes. Is that satisfactory ~