The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1897-04-03
The pEAcoN.s RACE.
A Little story of How Sunday Pro-
prietX Wna Upset.


"Whcn l was youngster," said a
Kentucky horse raiser the other day,
II lived in a highly respectable blue
grass town with an Old uncle and aunt,
who were seeing to the proper bringing
up of their only and well-beloved
nephew. Among their possessions
were two horses and a negro boy, who
took care of them, and those horses
and that boy were my especial delight.
After my first winter in town, and when
the weather began to soften in the
spring, the boy and were accustomed
to ride the horses to a pond to water.
which was perhaps three-quarters OF
mile from the stable, half of which
distance was through the town. II
soon became our custom when the
horses had finished drinking to let
them go full tilt for home, and the
speed they attained was startling, SO
fast, in fact, that we soon had to take
them to the alleys and run them to the
stable that way. l suppose we had
been keeping this up for three months,
and the horses had got so that they
would scarcely wait to drink before
they wanted to be off. when one Sunday
my uncle and aunt concluded they
would go to meeting in the country
my uncle was a staid and severe dea-
con in the Presbyterian church-and
for n change they rode the horses in
stead of driving them. As luck would
have it. they came back to town over
road that led by the pond where Jim
and ! watered the horses, and as it was
about watering time as they passed
they stopped TO let the horses drink.
OF course uncle and aunt had perfect
confidence in their CRITTERS and were
not expecting any demonstrations, but
as soon as those horses had taken a
good, long pull at the water and lifted
their heads to take look around it
seemed to occur 10 them all at once
shat il was time to cut and run for the
stable.
And they did. My eye, how they
did. Down the road for the first quar-
ter of a mile, past the houses Of three
deacons in opposite churches, with
their families sitting out on their gall
leries in the cool Of the evening: then
on past the minister's house they went
like the wind, my uncle doing all nc
could TO hold the beasts and my aunt
frightened out cf her wits by the un-
eypcctedness of it, doing all she could
10 hold herself on her horses back.
Tnclc's hat flew off as he turned into
the first alley. or rather rs the horses
turned him into the alley. ard four
boys with three dogs got hold of it aud
came bowling after. Ny aunt's horse
always made his squirt ut this Point, and
as hey skirts flew at the mercy of the
wind he gave wild plunge and
dashed ahead Of mr uncle. AS they
sped IN the alley people on the streets
whore thc alleys crossed hurried! ont Of
the way aud pazed in awcStrucl wonder
as the deaccnand his good wife scurried
along on Gathering hoofs. The usual
Sunday quiet had prevailed. and the
noise of the racing stccdS seemed to
fill all the town, and people soon be-
gan to run out on the streets and in
quirc what was going on. At last the
horses reached the stable, and there,
without any trouble at all. they
stopped and waited to be let in. as usu-
al. | don't know what would have
happened 10 me when my part. though
wholly unintcntional, in the affair. be-
came known TO my uncle. had it not
been for my aunt, who had an eye to the
ludicrous, and she ~ot me off with only
one application of the hickory, while
the negro boy got twice as much. Ny
uncle was on unpleasant terms with me
for several months. however. because
he was jollied about his horse race for
q long time, and every fresh jar he
would get on ii would react upon me.
l may say. in conclusion. though. that
my aunt did not stand by me when lie
said that Jim and would suffer severe
pain and penalties if there were any
more running of the horses" Wash
i'm U+OD St1r