The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-07-07


1t was no use trying to keep calm. His
excitement mastered me, and / felt that
come veal or woe, had to do as he wished
He went on
"Whisper now-it's solemn sacred saw.
cret between us two, reminder that! Did
We liver hear av the Makeshift Colt? No.
We didn't, nor nobody else. But tell We
that's the horse that's goin' to win. this
years Derby.
80. We needn't look at the lists; he's NOT
in the bettin' at all-not yit, anyway.
! THEY'VE held that colt back, am kept IN as
dark's the back of Hades. AM now, thin
as is in the saycret, they're goin' round
takin' the odds on the quiet.
"There's no one knows a word av it out
side the stable, barrin' me an you. The
bookmakers III just give any odds at all
about the horse; they don't know his name
yit, even"
And so on, and so on, till, after an hours
talk, l was as completely persuaded as any
one could wish, and yielded myself up
entirely to the fever of which O'Hooligan
was the present exponent. / soon saw that
he was thoroughly in earnest himself, and
it was not long before | was as mad on the
subject as he. | saw that l had got a
means, at last, for relieving myself of my
difficulties, providing myself with actual
capital, and for making my marriage with
Lucy an immediate possibility.
"Sell livery blessed stick! Sweep out the
whole bag o. tricksl Pawn the coat aft
yer back AM crack the bilin' ON to the
Makeshift Colt" was Jimmy's advice.
| found on inquiry that had, curiously
enough, drawn "the field" in a big sweep
stakes at the Brush and Palette. As the
Makeshift Colt was a name unknown to
the lists, it had not been put aT0n- t'in
drawn, and consequently it belon ed @ Bar
| as holder of 'the field" ticket. A
THAT'S yours, thin, anyway" sald 80
my, referring to the sweep. | acc. 1.s
this drawing, for my own part, as an o.rrs
of success. was thoroughly win Jimmy
now.
| had little enough money; but qutkly
sold or pawned every available articlethat
l owned, even going so far as toralse
money upon the few bits of furnitup and
studio effects that l had. | mad up
purse of about forty sovereigns, which
really represented every stick or raf in my
possession, except what / stood upright in.
Then my Irish monitor and mySlf pro-
ceeded to visit certain bookmakers A re-
mark that the first of them made b us was
substantially repeated by the rest
"Never heard of your fancy till this
morning. Gave hundred against him to
one or two parties that came to ct on him.
Had to look up the Guide TO sic if there
was such horse at all. But can't give
quite the long price again. Makeit eighties
to one for yOU."
put on thirty pounds at these odds, and
l also ''placed" the colt at fifteen to one,
putting on seven pounds in that way.
Jimmy was enraptured; for if tie colt car
ried off the event should WIN 2500l.-a
mint of money in our eyes. He himself
| had put on all he could raise-how much
exactly | do not know.
''It's foine time We'll be haHn' present
! w." he said. "Won't the boys open their
eyes when you an me shows our pile? AM
see what base of operations we'll have! !
Be the mother av Moses, wen be million
aires yit! Good luck to the colt"
| confess | had my misgivings, al
though the gambling fever had come
over me and impelled me to risk my
| little all upon this horse. To me it was a
grand comp indeed. 1t meant so much, you
see; for either l should come out an actual
capitalist, possessor of a sum that to me
seemed almost boundless wealth-"a base
of operations" as Jimmy called it-or |
should be completely and utterly broken.
You may imagine the state OF mind | was
mat one moment seeing a simply golden
prospect before me, anon seized with the
dismallest doubts and fears. And the fol-
lowing day my excitement grew hotter yet;
for in all the papers the Makeshift Colt was
now, for the first time, quoted in the bet
| ting; and apparently he had come into
favor, as the price against him had fallen
to forties to one. Still more reassuring
was the fact that two sporting papers gave
| the Maleshift Colt as one Of their three
probable winners. The secret was a secret
no longer.
now got into a wild delirious ecstasy of
expectation. You can well imagine how
| felt. | went so far as to telegraph to that
relative of mine, alleging that | was in
want and had sore need of his help. l also
borrowed some five pounds here and there,
and Cracked it on" with the rest.
.l,%s 1 L.
ever. He was man of the world, as the
phrase goes, and had low opinion of me,
which am now open to confess was not
| wholly unwarranted. He wired in reply:
"Believe you want to bet ON Derby. Will
send ten pounds, but not until Saturday
morning, when expect it,"
| However, on showing his telegram to the
| landlord of the Brush and Palette, that
worthy publican readily advanced me the
ten pounds. thus "sold' my kind rela-
tive, you will observe, through the instru-
mentality of the general guide, philosopher
and friend of good Bohemians.
At last came the eventful morning and
Jimmy and | found ourselves in brake
with some dozen others, driving from our
pub" down to EPSON. | need not say that
| had put on the bulk of my ten pounds,
getting forty to one, and eight to one for a
shop" A long price still; but the colt
had not come into general favor much, and
indeed, actually started at little below
those odds.
All. don't think shall ever forget that
day. No, sir! The fearful agitation was
in has impressed every detail of it indeli-
bly, on my memory. Consider. | stood to
win three thousand pounds, which meant
to me wife, a home, substance, comfort,
responsibility, business. On the other
hand, a black abyss of woe seemed to open
to my imagination.
We stood on the hill opposite the Grand
Stand and watched the preparations for
the race. Jimmy the boisterous had sud-
denly quoted down into grim, white
faced, eager-eyed, silent spectator. was
so agitated that | had to lie on the turf NJ
head swan round, my heart palpita
forciblY. [ shook all over as if | ha,
palsy. I.HI ....i ...
! Among the mass of horses marshallin-
| into rank for the start we had ewes but for
one. Among the many hues of their,iocl.
| eyS' silks we sought out the colors that sig.
nitied our particular choice. Purple an,
| black-there they were; and we gazed al
them feverishly, for the noble animal that
bore them carried also our hopes and fears
They are off The race has begun and
the decision of my fate is at hand. / see the
brilliant bed of colors stream past and
away, hear the intense murmur of the
crowd, and | stand, as gambler stands
awaiting the cast of the die
o my God how it all comes back to me
NlaWus -