The Forrest City times., 1891-05-15

jeweled fez, Veta's eyes look out. l serene, impenetrable. A bell sounds, and silence falls on the waiting mul- titude. From open gates stream a dozen or more horses harnessed to light sleds of gilded osier. They are pure blooded Arabians, thick-set mustangs from the steppes, and highly bred Orloffs with sweeping names white and shiny as spun glass. The people watch these preliminaries apathetically. They are waiting for the "piece de resistance" the three-horse race, with princes as drivers. Already four races have been run, the track is cleared and the 800 workers take up their task of sweeping away the pow dered ice beaten up by the iron hoofs. Once more the gates open and three splendid bays appear with the same sled of gilded osier, but larger and more elegant. They are followed by three black Finlanders, with shaggy coats and tails that sweep theground. The last corners are Orloff stallions, white and dazzling as the snow itself. Their short hair glistens as though oiled, and silver reflections shadow their smooth Hanks and elegant necks; their mouths are black and their nos trllsimmense, quivering and roselined; their eyes, tender, yet prominent and full of fire, are circled by & sooty ring like those of the Asiatic women. They are the pets of the hour There they stand, the nine superb creatures, controlled by q splendid discipline that does not per init the most timid paving of their im- patient hoofs, and with over two hun matchless perfection.
 Three sorry horses, emaciated and sad, splashed with mud and covered with ragged harness, half string, half leather, advaced slowly into the arena; behind them trails a clumsy vehicle, made from the bark of a Russian fir tree and shaped like the Laplander's hunting sled. With dropping heads and dra gging limbs the weary beasts come forward and place themselves besides their aristocratie predecessors. A cry of horror rises up from the crowd. Leaning back in her box Veta watches the late arrivals with fixed ip- tentness.
 The bell rings noisily. The race be- gins
 The bays led by several lengths. The middle horse, an old favorite lifts his feet with all the alluring charm of q star of the nations hippodrome- His companions, brothers from the Don, thin and ardent, run without ef fort After them come the Finlanders tearing furiously on the reins. Suifi- 1x- hA fN nsafr tSh thntp packers are the Orloff stallions verit- able wonders of beauty and breed.
 Finally, following at n long distance behind their royal leaders, are the three strange beasts with tlseir L.aplan- dish sled They run irregular, and their little thin belts give out mel ancholy sound. It IS in this order that the sleds pass for the firss time in front of the judges stand.
 Hallway on the second rosrrd the Finlanders fling out their sturdy heels with such velocity that they look like the hAlicircle 0f bounding hoop. They pass the bays. X quick swell ing of their massive chests and they forge ahead.
 .'Hurrah' shrieked the people, ,Nvished with the success of their savorites. At this moment the un- known peasant straightens up his giant frame Pushing back the heavy hat drawn down to his eyes, he grips the reirr> with an icon hand givss a curious prolonged whistle. His skele ton horses are strangely metamor- phosed As though in answer to some sTperhuman command, they give one gigantic Lsap and fairly fly. Eos Il moment they run Reside the white stallionS>
 1.-The Osloffs leadsS" screams the mslltitude, then shudders.
 Beyond the shapely heads of the etty's favaites stretched six dark, pointed ears. to be followed by three heads wit n giaring eyes, and foalning blood-tleck4<i jaws.
 With her body stretched half out of her box Vsta watches them with fas- einating eyes. Her chest heaves> her limbs trerMble. and her face takes on the anguish of the laboring brutes.
 Don't worry" whispers Repine. "They wisl lose
 They w,ll winl" she answers hoarse- ly. "l know them"
 "The Orloffs gain" says somebody in the next box.
 ''Ah." groans Veta, and bites her lip to the blood
 Once more the peasants whistles startles the still air, and with pro- digious effort his horses leave the oth- CTS behind. Transigured by the walk ing of their unknown blood, carried away by a secret ecstacy, with float ing names and sonorous breath, thcy rush on toward the expected goal.
 They reach it--vict ctorious-winnerS by three lengths.
 For one long moment the people rest mute with stupefaction, utterly in- capable of applause, They stare open mouthed at the sordid beasts thathave beaten the nohlest blood of the land, then like one man they dash forward to look at them, to ask their race and the name of their uncouth driver.
 As the victors pass Veta leans out to look at them. ''l must see them, she says aloud.
 At the sound of that voice the peas ant starts. Lifting his head, their eyes meet. She pales, but that is all.
 Months have passed, and the ex- traordinary event that astonished the Peterbourgeois is no more than ancient
 history. Nobody has learned the | identity of the mysterious peasant.
 Many believed him a sorcerer. Others 1 thought him a great doctor of some
 unknown science, whose powerful
 potion had galvanized the exhausted l haacto pnt # Ia oil nplv ,namnrv