The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-22

!
( her answer. But afterward he remem-
I bered to have heard that the chance Sc
lected by a perfectly innocent creature,
such as a child or a young girl with no
knowledge of wrong, always broughtluck
to those who followed it. II was only a
. gamblers superstition, but it was as
good, at any rate as any Of the infallible
systems which infallibly ruin their in
I ventOrs. And besides, he himself had
( half fancied Sweetbliar from the first.
4 So he put $500 upon the mare, who won,
I and thus (at TO u secured him a very
pretty haul.
Next Derby, his superstition confirmed
! by the former success, he consulted Janet
again She was more serious this time,
and hoped that dear papa was not going
TO bet upon that dreadful horse racing
But he put her question aside with nerv-
Gus laugh, and pressed her with such
earnestness for her selection that just TO
soothe and please him at the moment
already he was like the child, and she
like the fond parent-she had glanced
through the list Of competitors which he
showed her, and had named horse. 1t
was the Duke of Bullingfords again.
And to Rawson's uncontrolled exulta-
ton, that nobleman a second time car
ried of the blue ribbon of the turf.
The third Derby was now fast APP
preaching
hdWbOu, utterly WT6Ck6u III 0edibH-d
shrunken, shrivelled man, prematurely
aged, with nerves shattered and intellect
impaired, was awaiting the race eagerly
TO make his coup. He knew that he could
not live much longer nor did he desire to
do so. Life had become TO him little
better than hell. His one aim now was
TO recover Janet's fortune, and then, if
death did not come to him naturally (as
ii surely soon must dO), to take one day
ns.60 Of nd eli
self painlessly out Of troublesome ex-
istence.
Athird time-what else was to be now
expected - he asked his daughter to
name the winning horse Janet met the
request by earnest entreaties to him TO
refrain from betting-by gently pointing
out the absurdity of referring to one so
ignorant as herself-and by doing all, in
fact, that tender, loving daughter could
do to dissuade him from his desperat e
project But he persisted in his demand,
varying between the widest threats and
the most abiect prayers, until the girl,
afraid that his excitement would end in
some fatal seizure, gave way, and selected
him name from the list of candidates.
Ia her anxiety about her father she could
not do more than read the list mechan-
ically. The names Of all the horses were
as strange to her as Hebrew; so were
those of the owners-all but one. And on
that one she fastened by half-uncon-
scious instinct. 1t was the Duke of Bull
ingford's
When RawsOn heard her selection he
gave an inward groan. Surely 1t was
tempting Providence to choose the same
owners horse the third year running
More especially as in the present in
stance-thouRh Janet, of course, knew
nothing of that-the dukes colt stood
low down In the betting. But he did not
even hint at a second choice, which, ac-
cording TO his gamblers creed, would in
fallibly have broken the lucky spell He
simply accepted the selection without de-
mur, and creature of superstition that he
was, invested. Ell 900 upon that animals
chance.
When the eventful day came he went
down to EPSON, feverish with burning
anxiety, to see the great race run. In
former years he had driven down on a
coach with some of his honorable friends /;
but now these had all fallen away from
the broken, seedy-looking man, and ne
had none with whom to make up a party.
He therefore went by train, and Janet,
fearing to let him go alone-so precarious
was his health and so clouded now his
reason - accompanied him. She hated
the expedition on every account; but her
father would go despite her strongest
discussions, and so, for his sake, she
effaceG her own dislike and became his
escort.
The newspapers next day said that
fewer people than unual had visited Ep-
som Downs for the great event. To Janet,
who had never been to any race meeting
before, it seemed that the whole of Lon
don must have assem- bled on those breezy
uplanas. But she could not enjoy the
fresh air, the bright sunshine and the gay
90 L,
about her father, the crowding and bust
ling the hoarse cry of racing touts, the
foul language, frightened and sickened
her in no small degree. The excitement
and anxiety on Rawson's face were pain
full to witness, increasing in intensity
as one by one the minor races
were run of and the hour fixed
for the chief event approached.
He and Janet had to take their
chance among the crowd, and finally they
were crushed and hustled by the great
throng which surged toward the winning
post They moved as close to the rails
as they could; but that was not very near
for the people were eight or nine deep in
front of them already packed as tight as
| herrings. For all that they could see,
amid the heads and hats and waving
! arms, they might as well have been at
| homeiu Bayswater, But soon a sudden
| silence followed by buzzing murmur,
and loud cries of They're off" told
them that the flag had fallen to a fair
start.
| Great excitement prevailed on every
1 hand The shouts grew deafening. Every
| man in the crowd seemed converted for
! the time being into braZen-throated
| stentor Then amid the roar of voices
came a mighty laundering of hoofs, a
whizzing past of Jockeys heads in quick
I succession, a perfect storm of cheers
| eaths and curses-the first prevailing
and then up went the winning NUM- ers
Rawson watched for them with such a
/ look as you may notice on a prisoner
| face when the verdict of the jury is a bout
| to be declared, and when they were
hoisted and he saw them he uttered a ter
rible cry, and chung fainting to his
| daughters arm. The Duke of Bulling-
ford's colt was not even placed.
How Janet got her father home that
| day she scarcely knew but, with the aid
of some kindly fellow passengers, the
| task was somehow accomplished Her
first step upon arriving was TO send an
urgent message TO their family doctor
1 who lost no time in making his appear
ance. He carefully examined the pros
trate Rawson, and his face was very
| grave when he came out of the sick man S
/ room.
'He is suffering from severe nervous
| prostration," said the doctor, evidently
| brought on by some shock. DO you know
anything TO account for itf'
i JanetADnle fearful nuXiOug-tOld him