Ottumwa weekly courier., 1877-08-15
pM1sckllA|',NG.
Re1liwnafion,

1 ff.-t 9O4go0AA8R0oOAks
But one dead lamb is there!
There 10 NO freside, howsoe'er defended,
But has one 5scant chair!
The air Ia full Of farewells to the dying,
And m0urnings for the dead;
The heart Of Rachel. for her children crying,
viii not bs comf0rtedi
Let Y b. patienai These eyersafriictions
But oftentimes celestial beneiictlons
Assume this dark disguise.
Wcsee but dimly through the mists and vapors
| Amid the earthly dsmps.
What seem en- 70 rs bat ed: funeral tapers
There is 10 deathl what seems 10 is tfausition.
| Is but suburb Of the lifs elyoian,
Whose portal We call Death. HOngfellow]
| A FREE FOR ALL RACE.
"rlNns, 2:i3 i-2."
4e,o p, From the New York Sun,
Itwas FREE. all and there wasn'
driver behind one of the five horses
who didn't mean to take the frs
money. Not . shout, not Q touch O
the whip, not whisper from one o
the drivers as the trotters wen
around the turn In q bunch. tn,
crowd at the grand stand wer,
breathless as they ss they watched
them down to the half flag. No
horse fell behind, not . horse lef
his feet. Down around the back
stretch, into the homestretch, and al
old veteran on the judges stand shad
ed his eyes and whispered: s.Grea,
heavens2 but I never saw anything
like it before y
Down they thundered, not break
or skip, and the driver with the or.
ange cap on drove under the wire on
ly 3 neck ahead. It was half min.
ute before there was word from the
thunderstruck crowd, but then such 8
shout went up as was heard over the
meadows for good long mile. The
timer chalked his figures on the board
and hung it up, "2 :l6k y and the
crowd shouted again.
When the horses scored again there
was new driver under the orange
colored cap, "Honest Jack" had been
hurled from his sulky in pulling up
beyond the wire. Some said he was
only shaken up, and others looked
grave as they saw his pale face and
fhe bloody froth on his lips. They
took him to the track keepers house
and the doctor examined him and
said:
"He won't drive again this summer
and fear he has met his death
blow"
"What was the time ~ whispered
the driver opening his eyes for the
first time. 5
A brother driver answered him
despite the surgeons warning gesture
and jacks white face showed disap-
pointment as he said:
81 thought we were flying, but we
were only jogging. I'll yet see little
Nellbeat that by three seconds"
Fever came and his wild rawlings
were about weights, over checks,
hand holders, and trainers and rub
bers. The public forgot him in day,
but the trainers and others around
the track inquired about him every
hour in the day, and took turns sitting
up with him Of nights. 1t was plain
that death was coming nearer every
hour, but they could neither break
his fever, nor lead his wild thoughts
into other channels.
"There goes the bell! Get ready
All right! Out O. the way there! I
take the pole," he kept calling out,
and they saw that he would die with
his mind on the stables and track.
One night when the air braced up
and the sultry heat was driven away,
the patient rested better than usual.
He ceased his raving and fell into a
sweet sleep, and by and by his tired
watchers also slept. When they open
ed their eyes they heard the ding
ding ! ding! of the bell of the judg-
es' stand. Honest Jacks bed was
empty, and for q moment they could
not comprehend the situation. Ding
ding! ding! went the bell again, and
the watchers ran over to the track
Two of the stable boys joined them
having been aroused by the bell, and
in an other minute the trackman was
there. Through the gloom of mid
night they made out human figure
beside the bell. It was not Honest
Jack. A cold chill crept over each
one as they realized that it was not.
Ding ding! ding rang the bell
and they heard the beat of hoofs or
the soft track. One glance showed
them Little Nell pefore her sulky
and behind her was half clad figure
with face SO white that it seemed al.
most like star in the gloom. Long
white fingers clutched the lines, and
q pair of eyes almost on fire, shone
down upon the crowd as Honest Jack
walked his horse down to the stand
as if to confer with the judge.
THE boy has left his bed, harnessed
his horse, and is going to trot agains
time y whispered the trsckman, bu1
they dare not step foot upon the track
to stop him. In the judges stanG
was a-what? Was it. human be
ing or the spirit Of some driver gone
before2 They crowded closer tcgeth
er as each one asked himself the ques
tion, and they saw the unknown beni
down, gesture, and act as living
Judge would have acted. Little Mel
worked her ears and stamped hel
feet, as she stood there, and the train
er whispered:
"See how nervous she is, she smells
the dead" !" ri
The bell rang out loud and cleal
and horse and driver dashed past tt
the score. Every ear in the group
heard the sulky turn, and the next in
slant the little horse was down upoI
them. Her ears were pointing for
ward, her eyes blazing, and in tha
one instant all took notice that sh,
had q, free head. The oyercheck bi
had been taken of, the check wa
down, and her feet were not weight
as ever before. "GoW shrieked {
strange tremulous voice, as the hors
reached the wire, and the watche
had no time to wink before the gloon
had swallowed up everything excep
the ghostly, white-washed stand ant
the strange Judge; yet they coul'
hear the pat, pat, pat, of the horses
feet as she few around the turn ant
went down the side stretch. The
they were lost for two or three sec
onds as the lone horse thundered int
the back stretch.
"God save us but i never saw sucl
a night 90 this I" whispered the track
man, whose hair had grown gray il
the long forty years he had put in o.
that and other tracks.
aHistl He's coming!" replied on
of the stable boys, and the pat pal
pat, Of Little Nell's feet could b
heard as she came of the back stretch
There was q chuckle OF deligh
from the judges stand. The bein
up there WAS facing the home stretch
Hc could follow the flying hors
around the track at that midnigl
hour as well as the men below co1l
have seen in the bright light Of noon
day.
observation-disclosures even
skipW he chuckled, rubbing hi
hands together. "She won't quit
mako it this time, but she will ON tn
next. How she comes! What kne
action What . reach! How sh
keeps the bit!"
! In another second, almost the littl
horse, reaching out as NO one had ey
er seen her before, passed under th
wire. The white face of the, drive
seemed whittier to the men beside th
track, but he was looking straigl
ahead and holding the lines with