Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-07-03
A DRUMMER'S TALE.
TCopyripht. 1895. I

tavern in Maine. One of the party-a commercial man-told the following story:
 II had been in the same place about four days, canvassing for book treating of the proper manner of developing speed in the tretting horse. It was a work which was taking well, as considerable in- terest was being given in that section to horse raising. According to my customary proceedings at that time, l secured board and~lodging in a private family, which consisted of Q middle aged gentleman and wife. Among the subscribers for the book was a man of about 35, great lover of horses and the possessor of a fiery young stallion of promising qualities. I had been given several fast drives by the owner of the animal, and in return had spoken volumes of praise in regard to the young horses speed.
 "In tho evening of the day in question my host and hostess were called away for the night by the illness of a relative. Be- ing fatigued by my days work, I retired earlier than usual and was sleeping sound ly when I was suddenly awakened, about II o'clock, by a heavy knocking at the street door. Supposing it to be the sum- mons of the returned man of the house, 1 hastily dressed and went to the door, the caller in the meantime beating lively tattoo on the door rock with @ riding whip. To my surprise, as 1 opened the door was greeted in an effusive manner by my friend who owned the fast colt, and near by, impatiently paving the turf of tho front yard, stood that handsome ami mal attached to a two wheeled vehicle.
 !" "'Twould be hard to realize my amaze ment when he broke out with: Come on, George; you like fast riding. I'll give you some now. Monarch and I are going to race the devil tonight, and you must be there to catch the time saw in Q min ute that the man was deranged. He held a revolver in one hand, and as I gazed at it in woLlur he said Oh, that is to see there is fair play; no crowding tonight No, sirccr And with that he gave the weapon flourish. 1 expostulated with him, saying that it was late for me to be out, etc., but in vain. He kept waving the revolver and raving that must be thcre for tho devil would be sure to lead us a merry race, and that must hold the watch. l saw it was useless to attempt to reason with him, and fearing the conse- quences of a refusal was soon seated in the crazy going road cart beside the raving driver. With crack of the whip the frightened animal dashed from tho yard. With a fiundish chuckle he struck the horse again and again, and terror stricken the creature ever increased his terrific speed till we seemed to almost fly along the road, which was fast growing rough and uncvcn tho vehicle meanwhile swing ing from side to side until it seemed as if it would Do impossible to remain on the scat much longer.
 II was clinging for dear life when sud denly he shrieked in my ear: 'Ah, the devil! There he is! pointing to the road side. We've the inside track of him, and we're going to beat him out on the stretch coming home Then followed oaths and cursrs as he imagined his competitor was gaining on him. The horse seemed crazed us his master and was straining every limb. How long it would last I could not tell, and how it would end 1 dared not think, for to hope to escape serious if not fatal injury seemed Q mockery.
 Suddenly I remembcred-and I shud- der even now as I recall my feelings then that but a little way beyond us there was short curve in the road. Owing to a deep ravine, the contractors had been obliged to turn the roadbed shortly to the right. The bank of this ravine rose almost pcrpendiCularly, and at this time only 0 slim rail or two barred it from the road way. Riding at the lightninglike rapidity we were, 1 knew it would be impossible to mako that turn. There was nothing to prevent us being hurled down the embank- mcnt, Q distance of 30 or 40 feet, on to tho rocks below. Still swinging his revolver and uttcring wild curses, the madman con tinucd urging the horse to his utmost speed.
 II was trying, it seemed vainly, to think of some way of escape from our now certain doom, when suddenly he nearly dropped the reins and cried: My God My Godl where am IF
 II saw that his insanity was leaving him. l graspcd the reinS and put all my strength to trying to gain control of the flying animal, and barely succeeded in slowing him sufficiently to pass the dan gerous curve, and then gradually brought him to a standstill. My companion seemed dazcd by his position apparently remem- bering nothing that had happened.
 Gradually his senses returned, and briefly told him what had transpired, and even then it was difficult for him to be- lcvc what I said wo had passed through. After leaving him at his homo, l repaired to my room, but not to sleep. When at last daylight put an end to tho night, the transpiring scenes seemed but a frightful dream. This illusion, however, was soon dispcllcd by the arrival of the instigator of my wild ride.
 After a few moments conversation he said that tho previous evening ho had sui fcrcd from a severe headache and dizzy SIcllS, CullSCu I6lTtlS ny b IShI III uFSO part of the day. In closing, he desired me to say nothing of the nights adventure among tho townspeople and presented me with this weapon have in my hand" As the narrator spoke these words he drew from side pocket a handsome gold mounted revolver, which hc passed to the person at his right for examination. Ut was the ono he had carried the night be- fore.
 'Soon after leaving tho town read of the sale of the horse for largo sum, and shortly after l met the former owner in Boston. Ho said that since that night he has never seen horse driven at high speed without shuddcring at remembrance of that ride As for me, strange to say, have always since that night had fascina- tion for witnessing trials of high speed of that gamy animal, the race horse.'
 c. A. PRESCOTT