El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-06-27

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and, ignoring the looks of aversion
which Mr.. Gubbs bestowed upon the
silver sea, stood by while he disrobed
and peacefully piled his way over the
shingle to the edge of the water. 1t
was q bright morning but somewhat
chill, and Mr.. Gubbs' breathless gasp
ings furnished an excellent clew to the
temperature of the water.
| 'How do you feeI?' inquired Mr..
Larkins anxiously as he rubbed him
down.
81 feel bad" said the other, SILVER
ing.
You'll feel better when you've had
! your rum" said Larkins cheerily.
| "Ad my w-w-wot?' inquired Mr..
Gubbs, staring at him extensively and
i rubbing himself furiously with the
towel.
! your rhn," repeated Larkins stern
| ly. you don't want your coat. See,
hold that And, mind, 1 don't want you
to go running like steam engine, or a
runaway horse
81 wasn't going to- said Gubbs.
Just trot easy" continued the other,
/ ''for about half a mile. Go, as far as
; that gate over there, then rest two
minutes, and trot back again."
His manner was so dictatorial that
Mr.. GubbS, remembering in time his
scene in the Three Fishers, swallowed
something he was going to say-and it
was nearly strong enough to choke him
and set off at strange, weird gait
toward the indicated goal He reached
it at last, and, after a very long two
minutes, started back again, in re-
Spouse to the SemaphOrelike appeals of
the enthusiastic Larkins.
'I've got my work cut out for me, /
can see," said the latter, as his victim,
putting and blowing, sat down on the
ground. But I'll soon get you in trim.
and you can keep quiet about it. /
don't want Bullock to know"
why not?" demanded Mr.. Gubbs.
Because he'd train Tarbut the same
way" said Larkins. with cunning
grin.
well, why shouldn't Tarbut ave.
q doing same as me?" said Mr.. GubbS |
vindictively. 'Why should e be lay |
ing in comfort in SIS bed while I'm |
catching arm bathing and killing my
self running"
Don't you be fool" said Larkins. |
affectionately patting him on the Shout
der. Come into my place when you
have time, and I'll put the gloves on
with you a bit, and be careful what
you eat, mind, else you'll undo all the
good I've done you"
If it is possible for a man to expec-
torate sarcastically, Mr.. Gubbs achiev-
ed that feat.
Only two cups of tea with your
breakfast continued Larkins solemn
ly, land no gravies for dinner, and I'll
80 Ill oil -nrsx-I
day free gratis"
The tensity of Mr.. Gubbs' features
relaxed, and he smiled family as he
rose and accompanied his friend back
Larkins saw him to his door and, after
explaining fuently to Mrs. Gubbs that
her husband was training for a race,
gave her explicit instructions as to his
diet and departed.
1t was Il source of much joy to Mr.
Larkins, though he was unable to per
suade Gubbs, to share in his feelings.
that Tarbuts trainer was satisfied with
a less vigorous system for his man. He
let Tarbut off with a cold sponging on
rising, and, as Tarbut had his own
ideas as to what constituted cold
sponging, both parties were well pleas
ed with each other.
The businesslike IA ture of these pro
ceedings was keenly appreciated by the
inhabitants of the fishing quarter.
Fights had happened before and doubt
less would again, but they were mere
rough and tumble affairs and over be-
fore any proper excitement could be
whiSked up. The purse had steadily
mounted up to So shillings, and the
bettingsvaried from day to day.
Each man had his knot Of supporters,
and enthusiasm had reached such a
pitch that Gubbs, who was naturally
of a retiring disposition, had to take
his matutinal tub before quite a circle
of admirers. Opposition on the part of
the ladies was baked by continuing to
allude to the affair as a race, though
Mrs. GubbS, who got up one morning
to see her man run, went home in a
state of mind bordering upon stupefac-
ton.
An uneasy feeling was caused by the
anxiety of the excellent Mr.. Morgan to
discover the time and place of meeting.
No information was afforded him, and.
rs he had Indignantly denied any in
tention of giving the alarm, the gentle
men interested were much exercised as
to the reasons for his curiosity.
The battle was fixed for a Saturday
evening, the two trainers, after much
wOrdy warfare, having selected a site
which Mr.. LarkinS insisted had been
made purposely by nature with view
to affairs of the kind. Lofty cliffs hid
1t from view, and the ground itself con-
sisted of turf so soft and spongy that
Larkins predicted that Tarbut would
bounce up from it like an india rubber
BALL. The performers EXPRESSED them