The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1877-10-18

what? Was it human being or the
spirit of some driver gone before2 They
| crowded closer together as each one
| asked himself the question, and they
saw the unknown bend down, gesture
| and act as a living Judge would have
done.
Little Nell worked her ears and
| stamped her feet as she stood there and
| the trainer whispered:
"See how nervous she is-she smells
the dead r'
The bell rang out sharp and clear, and
horse and driver dashed past to the
score. Every ear in the group heard the
sulky turn, and the next instant the lit
tie mare was down upon them. Her
ears was pointed forward, her eyes blaz-
ing, and in one instant all took notice
that she had a free head. The over
check bit had been taken off, check was
down and her feet was not weighted as
before.
eco p shrieked a strange, tremulous
voice as the horse reached the wire, and
the watchers had not got time to wink
before the gloom had swallowed up
everything except the ghostly white
washed stand and the strange Judge; yet
they could hear the pat, pat, pat of the
horses feet as she flew around the turn
and went down the side stretch. Then
they were lost for two or three seconds
as the lone horse thundered into the
back stretch.
"God save us but never seen such
a night as this !'' whispered the track
man, whose hair had grown gray in the
long forty years he had put on this and
other tracks.
Hist He's coming l'' replied one of
the stable boys, and the pat, pat, pat of
Little Nell's feet could be heard as she
came off the back stretch.
There was a chuckle of delight from
the judges stand. The being up there
was facing the home stretch. He could
follow the flying horse around the track
at that midnight hour as well as the men
below could have seen in the bright light
of MONDAY.
"Splendid beautiful mot even a
skip p he chuckled, rubbing his hands
together. "She won't quite make it this
time, but she will on the next How
she comes What knee action What
reach How she keeps the bit !'
In another second almost, the little
horse, reaching out as no one had ever
seen her before, passed under the wire.
The white face of the driver seemed
winter to the men beside the track, but
he was looking straight ahead and hold
ing the lines with firm grip.
Ding ding! ding rang the bell.
The horse came back at a jog. AS she
stopped at the stand the strange time
keeper bent down and whispered:
"You made it in 2:144. You'll beat
that by second next time !'
Honest Jack nodded his head, and, as
his wheel almost brushed the trackman,
it was seen that his white face wore an
exultant smile.
The stable-boys stretched out their
hands as if they would stop him, but
the old man shook his head and whis-
pered:
It's race agin death, and the time
keepers ghost!'
1t wasn't minute before the bell
called the horse to the score, and the
watchers hardly dared to breathe.
Sbo IoI cooroo11- oa,,obf bo, I,raotb
and yet when she came down under the
wire and heard the hoarsely- whispered
word, $50 !" she shot into the darkness
like an arrow from bow.
"Don't move so much as a finger
don't even breathe, warned the old
trackman as he bent forward to listen.
Pat pat pat came to his ear as
regularly as the ticking of clock
Down the side stretch, into the back
stretch, he followed the flying feet, and
lost the sound for just a second-just
long enough to hear the timekeeper
say:
"She1n 90 it-she'n do it-she's COM
ing like bull %
So she was. Never a skip, but pat
pat pat and she went under the wire
like fash.
The bell struck to recall her, and the
watchers looked into the gloom and up
at the dark figure.
A minute crept y-another-then a
third, and all at once the judges stand
was vacant.
The man or ghost had vanished out of
sight.
Something wrong here !' said the
! trackman.
Down near the first quarter they came
upon the body of Honest Jack. He was
dead
Even in the midnight gloom they could
see the smile on his cold face.
A hundred feet further on they found
Little Nell and the broken sulky.
"Be tender with him ~ said the old
trackman, as the men lifted up the
corpse of the driver.
They bore it past the deserted stand,
and looking up they saw the time board
hanging on its hook. On the black sur
face was chalked in bold figures
"Time, 2:13s." ."-Ne,U York Sun.
|
A FOOLISH 4MBI7ION.
No farmers wife, however hard her
IL e