The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1899-02-01
il Race H.hong Border FOLK
WOMAN is considered by the or

use or dog. That is mistake, The
woman sometimes asserts herself.
1t was the first week in July. In the
broiling hot sun of northwest sum-
mer there had come across the Battle
river the Blackfeet, the Sarcees, the
Piegans, and their cousins from Mon
tana, with the swiftest horses of the
south, to try conclusions on the race
track with their hereditary enemies,
the great Cree nation, as they had done
in other days in bloody foray- and fierce
ly fought battle before the white man
came. And the white man was there,
racing, betting and haggling over con-
ditions in the Lingua Franco he had
picked up from the half breed. And the
half breed found, perhaps, on that race
track the only place where his dual ma
ture gave him an advantage over both
For four or five days there had been
racing from daylight to dark, handi-
caps, private races, tribe races, races
according to the programme, races of
all kinds and at all times. Anyone
wanting race could be accommodated,
and many wanted. The fever of the
race possessed white, red and mixed
1t was saturnalia of sport.
All night long, in the hundreds of
tepees throughout the bluffs which sur
rounded the beautifully level plain that
did duty as the course, the games of
skill and chance, from the legerdemain
of the Cree stick game to draw poker,
went on to the accompaniment of the
tom-toms.
Lying in shack, half a mile away,
on the outskirts of the settlement, the
American could tell by the time of the
monotonous Indian drums whether the
stakes were high or the play was fast
and furious. The Englishman dropped
in after midnight. He had bought him
self out of the mounted police few
weeks before; said barracks were dull,
that the Canadian Pacific railway had
knocked all charm out of western life,
and that he was going east. He knew
the American and made him get up.
He wanted to talk to him. When the
Englishman talked, which was seldom,
he was worth listening to, and the
American got up. Before the English
man had finished, he had dressed him
self.
And then they went out and stole a
horse.
The fact that the horse was the prop
erty of the major commanding a troop
of the Northwest mounted police added
piquancy to the theft. The American,
who was a lawyer and had a legal con-
science, called it borrowing" The
Englishman said he didn't care a rap
what 1T was called, the majors horse
was the only thing in the district on
four legs that could beat Grey VOLTS
Pinto mare, and they had to have him.
Grey VOLTS Pinto was known far be-
yound the Blackfeet, and the American
suggested that even the majors troop
horse hadn't speed enough, granted
though he was, and he limited some
thing about doping the mare under the
circumstances. The Englishman
loved horse, and as they strobe along
in the moonlight toward the gate of
the palisaded police fort, he said that
doping horse was worse than murder,
that he wouldn't be party to it, and
that the girl wouldn't do it for so
Pierres, anyway; she had been brought
up with the Pinto, and he believed loved
the pony.
Then the Englishman went and lied
to the sergeant of the guard, and hint
ed mysteriously about an Indian rising
and his secret mission, as an old police
man, from the major to carry dis
patches to fort so miles away. And
the sergeant felt fattered at being
taken into the confidence of his chief,
and was duly impressed with the idea
of an Indian rising; the said hope be-
ing the something that keeps the red
coated riders of the plains alive; and
he told the gate and stable sentries not
to say anything about the absence of
the majors horse or the major would
be mad.
The Englishman and the American
then took the majors horse away and
painted out beautiful white star in
his forehead and the three white stock
ings and the brand mark. The Amer
leans artistic temperament was
aroused, and he wanted to paint
white star on his breast and throw in
few fourishes on the hind quarters,
but the Englishman said he only want
ed him disguised enough to pass once
through a crowd, and then if the ma
jor found out he didn't care-an ex-
ceedingly small amount. The major
wouldn't miss him until after the race,
as there was no parade in the morning,
and the sergeant was impressed with
the Embarrassing idea.
1t was late in the afternoon when the
race between Grey VOLTS Pinto and
the Englishmans unknown was called
Every other event had heen diva rft ed