The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-06-17

his uncle, rich and eccentric bachelor
to whom breeding horses and running
them afterward had seemed the only
things really worth while in vacuous
world. When death came a-knocking
at the door he did not think so much
about the Jewett name. 1t was the
Wynyard stable which weighed upon
his mind-so Jewett inherited his for
tune contingently upon keeping up the
stable.
Jewett did not complain. He had no
consuming desire to keep on working,
though he had worked with fair success,
and hard enough to give an exquisite
relish to idling, now that idling was, in
a manner, a duty. Moreover. he found
himself nightly entertained; the turf
was wholly a new field of observation
to him. Bud. .Heaton, the trainer. whom
Jewett had inherited along with the sta
BILE, was continuing delight. Bud was
a wiry fellow, six foot at least, given to
dislocating the commonwealth Eng
lish and set in his ways as the eyerlast-
ing hills He knew horse when he
saw it, alive and having its being, but
nothing living ever moved him to en-
thusiasm. That was the prerogative of
the dead. He had reverence amount
ing almost to awe for pedigree. Nat
urally to his mind, it was sacrilege or
the worst sort to name colt or hlly ex-
cept in such fashion as to at least sug-
gest either sire, dam or the bright par
ticular star of the line.
So. when Jewett said OF sleepy,
droop- headed chestnut fllly, long waist
ed to lankness: Call her Sarsaparilla.
Never saw a more palpable case OF
that tired feeling." the trainer protest
ed: Y.
II tell yer whut-no critter wont
never earn oats, much less nothln
more, eff you call it out o its name
hathaway. That thar filly's bred TO
run-Hanover out O. Great Tom mare
little as she looks it. You jest as we'll
shoot her right now, as ter go an
name her somethin' that don't mean
nothin' Now l had thought Tomhanner
would be just the size"
Jewett shook his head obstinately:
'Heaton, you are ungrateful, and short
sighted" he said. 1.-The name strikes
me as a positive inspiration. You can
shorten it either way. In the stable 1T
may be Sassy, or 'Rilly, just as you
choose
Then he strolled off, laughing, with
his hands in his pockets. Heaton shook
a fist after him. and slapped the hlly
on her quarter. 1t was quarter full
of power-in fact there was power ev-
erywhere. although the creature was
modelled on lines SO ungainly. She had
been highly tried, and Heaton had ha1
great hope Of landing with her one OF
the big two year old events. Now he said
spitefully: win the nursery! Nothin.
You couldn't win quarter race, carryin'
that name"
Sarsaparilla dropped her head and
looked sleeper than ever. But that
afternoon she picked up her name and
her SO pounds, and simply smothered a
field that had the best colts of the sea-
son in it. Still Heaton was ugly.
Wait. The hoodoo hadn't had no time
ter work. he said. Sure enough, the
next week. Sarsaparilla. with her three
pound penalty, came in bad last behind
half the colts she had defeated with such
ease.
"H-m! Turn her out and let her
grow up to the name,' Jewet said sage
~ by way of answer to Heaton's lamep-
tations. Heaton would not agree to that.
He kept the Ally going, and she seemed
to thrive on hard work. She ate justify,
frollicked and pranced in her exercise.
nipped her rubber if he did not use her
exactly to her liking. and found out
that she possessed a fine handy pair OF
heels. She also ran beautifully, the day
before a race. Race days were her chos-
en- seasons Of elegant leisure.
After three months of it Jewett sent
her forcibly to grass. He had been tempt
ed to sell her-but selling, except be-
tween seasons, was against VINEYARD
Stable traditions Besides the filly had
won out more that a seasons expenses
that lucky first time She came back
TO training in her threeyear old FORM
tanker, leggier. ungainlier than ever
Speedier, too-when she chose to run
The when was always an unknown guam
tity, until after the race. Sometimes she
ran her race over night, after her old
habit. At others she simply would not
work, but went away from the post like
a lamb and was never headed until she
came to the wire.
IL her owner had not been lucky enough
to back her decently when she lost. and
let her run loose when she won, he
would have come through the season
without thread of character. Heaton
stuck doggedly to his antipathy to the
name. swearing over and over, that as
Tomhanner, the brown mare would have
turned out another Miss Woodford, or at
least a bigger Firenzi Heaton believed
In luck you see. So did Jim, the brown
mares black rubber SO, most of all. did
Extry, her rider, who was Jim's stepson
the Wynyard Stables second jockey, and
as near bundle. of whipcord, steel wire
and whalebone as a black lad Is years
old we'll could be-.
II done call dat dar boy Extry case
he sholy th'owed in ter de match I
made. nuver dreampt Mriar had 'im.'
Jim explained to Jewett. Jewett liked
Extry. So did OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES in
stable mouths to Sassy, as Jewett had
fOretold. She had promoted Extry, indeed
from stable boy to jockey; and would run
for him, when she would run at all, bet
ter than for anybody else. AS a conse-
quence, Extry worshipped her. She revel-
ed in long races When Extry held her
hard, knowing there was nothing ahead
and the winning post good mile away
he was in heaven. The wind of her mad
rush might almost blind him, his head
might grow dizzy as the furlong posts
flashed past, and the roar of the grand
stand swelled hoarse and angry as the
81 hut Il Al;