Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1888-02-18
A QUEER RACE.

The speaker was typical American
sport, tall and well knit, 0f ruddy COM
plexion, with gray hair and mustache, and
probably 20 years of age.
He wes guest at the same house as my
self last fall, in a pleasant little country
town in Iowa, whittier he, like the rest Of
us, had gone TO recuperate for the winter
campaign. Our host was q genial, gen
erous hearted American, psssisnately fond
OF horses and all appertainins to them,
attending most meetings during the sea
son, and breeding little In an amateur
way at his counsry house. where we were
then located. -
He had one fault which constantly drove
his wife and pretty daughter TO the verge
Of distraction; that was. he could not be
an hour In any mans company who
chsnced to interest him on any subject
whatever, without giving that individual
a cordial invitation to his house Tor the
ann,.al house party in the fall. This uatu-
rally brought a discor,iant element into
the circle at times, regretted by no one
more than himself; but no matter how
discor,iant the element might be, 40 long
~ the general behavior kept within the
bounds Of conventional society, nothing
was permitted to even hint that absence
was desirable. Hospitality WAS sacred.
and IL mild cnrtain lecture ensued, and
q perpetual black mark was in future
placed against the delinQuent's name, the
other guests knew nothing whatever Of
the matter.
Last fall the dist turbing atom WAS Col
Ford. not bad sort " fellow in himself,
perhaps, but one decidedly out of place in
the society that surrounded him just then.
No matter whAt the subject under dis
cussion was, he always had an opinion
upon it-a very decided, eeOtistical Opin-
ion. delivered in = blatant tone with q
domineering air that plainly said, ''Apres
celia Ii deluge."
1t can easily be imagined that this type,
to many people, would be particularly ir-
ritating, for TO calmly stand being con-
tradicted and out lied, upon every phase
and yarn Of shooting, fishing Or racing
without annoyance would rank q man
very near the angels. l am. personally.
very far removed from . celestial temper
ament, and the colonel, doubtlessly noting
res annoyance, appeared to seize every
opening gave to direct his conversation
to me or at me. This continued for some
time. in course Of which I discovered
had firm friend and kindred spirit in
my dislike to the colonel in nay hosts
pretty daughter, Miss Jennie. a thorough
American girl. full Of fun and mischief.
scheme that might enter into her curly
little head.
When Col. Ford made his appearance at
Valley house. he was surprised to find Q
well fitted training stable, grounds Laid
s..e~ H.rke H..
trotting tracks, aAd all the paraphernalis
pertaining to an expensive hobby carried
out to the fun by . wealthy man. Most
Of Us had our own horses along with us,
and the days were passed 10 hunting,
shooting, fishing. riding to points Of inter
est In the vicinity, studying the minutie
Of the stable, or getting up running or
trotting races among ourselves Just for
fun and glory. The very frst night he
arrived the colonel had telegraphed for
his groom TO bring along verdant, aud
from that time he never ceased boring VA
to death about his mare, what she had
done, and what she could do, until we
We're weary OF the subject. The mare was
certainly a hne piece Of horssiesh. and
had performed very creditably In public.
winning several events at Monmouth,
Saratoga and St. LOUIS in the preceding
season: but surely fhnt was no excuse for
her owner forever hadgering every one 20
make a match with him. We had all
come to rest and enjoy ourselves, not TO
work ourselves to death In pursuit Of
pleasure.
One day at dinner, to which I had the
good fortune to escort Miss Jennie, the
conversation turned upon q ~ery fast colt
belonging to = friend Of mine living few
hundred miles north Of Valley house: had
Just concluded my remarks, when Col
Ford burst out:
Il tell you I'll hack my bay mare Yer
dant any distance under mile and half,
for 81 ,Op, against any living quadruped
in this state"
l looked across at him rather indignant
ly, not desiring any wager upon the mat
ter, when Miss Jennie chirruped: ..Is ttat
so colonel, What about weights"
MY dear young lady. catch weights. Of
course; have You a match TO propose? If
so, would be delighted
Miss Jennie laughed saucily, looked at
me, and giving me slight tap with her
foot under the table, said:
Il leave my case in your hands. !
to match my pig Peek -a-bno against
the colohel's Verlaut, distance 300 yards,
to be run two weeks to-day on our left
track"
OF course the table roarej with merrl-
ment. the colonel turned FIRST crimson and
then white with rage: tried TO laugh. but
could not, and finaEy said:
Very funny, Miss Jennie, very funny.
indeed"
During the merriment Miss Jennie
whispered few words to NE. and said:
Il do not see anything funny. colonel:
you offered repeatedly to back Verdant
against anything in the state; Miss Jennie
takes you up, and Lam empowered by her
posit the 81 100 in any ones hands you
may suggest.
The colonel was staggered for moment,
but recovered hiniself and said:
Well. if it is serious, let her go. ap-
int Tom CarsweH. here. for holder. and
Will increase il TO 81. 900 IL you or any one
want to go the limit"
Our host jumped into the pool, ''ru
take II 900"
Carswen said: Il guess my thousand
Is Us good as another's.'
George Hoyland took another, and I
increased mine to $1,000. Articles were
drawn up. signed. and for the next few
days fun was rampant, every one trying
to find out what Miss Jennie and I were
after with that pig The colonel held
aloof. Nerdxnt had regular exercise. aud
nothing further was done.
Notwithstanding the rigid surveillance
We were subjected 10. we succeeded In
keeping IL secret. We all retired TO rest
about II p. NJ, and every morning at day
break tap would come at my door, and,
quickly. would find . cup Of
coffee and Miss Jennie awaiting me down
stairs.
Peek a-boo was one Of those long,
lank, hungry, scrub porkers that drover
will tell you can run like the wind when
they like. We fed him once . day on .
bushel of corn; he was placed in . crate