The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1897-06-22
JONES GOT THE HORSE
THE UNLOCKED FOR SEQUEL TO A
NEW MEXICAN TRIAL OF SPEED.

The Gray Geiding Was n Good One. nr1
His owner Wasn't Afraid of the CO. .,..
prise" IIorse-where People Keep Their
Suspicious 10 Themselves.
conc of the quocrcst sequela to horse
race that ever l saw, IN New Mexico or
anywhere, occurred some years ago in tho
little plazita Of Ocatc, in Colfax county,"
raid the man from Santa Fe. "a lot Of
the cattlcmcn and cowboys had gathered
there after the spring round up, and as the
cattle bad turned up in good shape after
the winter the ranchmcn felt good and
sporty, ready to take n shy at anything
that promised excitement and fun. OF
course as Is always the case at such u
time, there was more or less whisky drink
ing, card playing for those who gamblcd,
and horse racing free for all. The speedi-
est race horse on the ground was Bill
Jones gray Kentucky gelding, that for
two seasons had cleaned out anything that
had been brought against it. Jones
thought heap Of his horse and what il
would do, and you didn't want to banter
him for race unless you felt mighty sure
of the speed of your nag and had money
where you could find it handy for round
wager
Feeling as he did about his horse. you
can fancy how he took it when one morn
ing, as u crowd of us were standing about
talking horse and cattle in front of Park
er's saloon, an Crnery fellow by name of
Meechman rode up and after talking
round bit, banterod Jones for race.
The horse hs rode was as oTnery looking
as Meechman himself, but that didn't
/ count with Soma of II that know thp nr,i-
nal for n surprise horse. Don't know
what a surprise horse is? It's what out in
the far west we call horse that is u good
deal better than he looks-onc of the kind
that jocEcynC sportsmen take to races
| where tho animal isn't known, and when
! they have got good odds laid against him
they put him to his speed, and he wins
everything in sight. You can see where
| the surprise comes in. Meechman was
| tin horn jockey and sharper, but he under
stood how to work Jones up to rearing
| point about his horse, and it wasn't long
before Jones offered to race him then and
there for any money he would stake.
81 haven't any money with me, said
Meechman, speaking sneeringlike and
looking round at the rest of us. You
knew that or you wouldn't be so free
about betting up your horse. But I'll tell
| you what I'lldo. I'll bet my horse against
yours for half mile dash, best two in
! three.
My horse against yoursp said Jones,
hot under the collar at the idea why,
man, my horse is worth dozen of that
thing
HE ought to beat him, then, without
any trouble, said Meechman, speaking
more tauntingly than before 1T looks
to me as if the best horse would be the one
that won the race.
Clones set his teeth together-he was a
square iawed man and game. 1T goes, he
said, and went to the corral for his horse.
l followed him to the corral and gave him
the tip about the other mans horse. 1t
wouldn L hinder the race from coming off
/ knew, but it would warn Jones to be on
his guard and not risk losing the race
through ovCrconfidence. He only smiled
little grimly when told him and said
That's all right. My horse is the best one
anyway
well, the race came off on the level
prairie back of the plazita. The track was
a half mile stretch of straight trail, with II
post at each end in place of wire, and IA
judge was stationed at each post one to
give the start and the other to call the fin
ish. Only one man, the judge, went down
W Inc nHlSllllS posi-. he rCSU Ol us SUttlu
with the starter. Before the race was
called Jones took off his cartridge belt and
revolver so as to ride the lighter and hand
ed them to me to hold for him. Then the
terms of the bet were recited to the crowd,
and the start was made.
Meechman's horse proved II surprise to
those of the crowd who didn't know about
him. He was quarter horse, which could
run like deer for u short distance, though
he had not the bottom for n long race that
Jones horse mad. Both men rode their
horses for all they were worth in the first
heat, and the race was close, but Jones'
came in ahead by neck. The second heat
was u close one, too, but the gray won
again. This settled the race, but Mech
man insisted on riding out the third heat.
This time he pulled his horse SO that he
was five or six lengths behind when the
gray cantered across the line Then, as
Jones drew rein and turned round in his
saddle to look, Mecchman put spurs to his
horse dashed PAST the goal post and kept
on down the road full speed, as if he had
an engagement across the Texas border
that he expected to keep that afternoon,
For minute Jones sat in his saddle
looking after Mcechman, as If not fully
comprehending what he meant by this
| InONG. lItD, us III tIuU I've III
tended really to give him the slip, he came
galloping back to the starting post His
face was bit flushed, and his jaw was set
in look of wicked determination as he
rode straight to me-
My pistolp he said, speaking shortly
in suppressed tone as if he could not
trust his voice.
~ handed him his belt and pistol. He
buckled tho belt about his body, whirled
the cylinder Of the revolver and tested the
movement of the hammer, then, without
further word rode back down the trail
to the finishing post and onward in the
, direction that Meechman had taken. He
left us, going at II slow gallop, but gath
cred speed as he went, and before he passed
from sight beyond Il swell of prairie we
could see that the gray horse had settled
into his swift, long winded pace that
= would unravel ten miles of prairie an hour
: rs long as his master chose to keep him at
It, We watched him out of sight, and then
r went back to Parker's to resume our or.