Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1901-10-10

help matters? Nothing VIII make iathef
feel differently abnut It, and | can not
disooey him"
There is the usual friction of starting,
but now they are off. Roanoke FORCES
steadily ahead But see, something
happens. She rears-wheels. Coteau
Queen gains. Again Roanoke plunges
ard rears. Great beads of sweat start on
Jim's ashy face. BY heavens, Bud is
holding her in, and breast ahead
FORCES Coteau Queen, her slender body
all iron and fire. She's under the wire.
'Hurrah for Coteau Queen" is the
cry of Buckskin Jones and his satel-
lites. The Infatuated men gathered
round the judges stand They bid fair
to tear it down, and with fierce cries OF
derision is mingled the name of Bud,
the jockey, who barely escapes rough
handling through the intervention of
Buckskin Jones.
What jim Harcourt said to his jockey
is not matter Of history, but when the
third heat is called Bud has disappeared
and Jim is mounted on RoaEoke.
Win her and the two thousand is
yourn,' whispers he of the grim face.
voice shouts: Don't disappoint
your friends, jim. We've put orr money
on that mare of yourD."
"You fool, don't you see they've
changed riders?" cries another
AS he passes the Osborn carriage jim
catches just a fieeting glance of a fut-
tering fichu, and he knows, without
looking, how white and tense is the
face above it,
al l- 20 10 atrip f,f 1 @
touch and voice. They are one length
two lengths ahead. They are almost
home. The two thousand will be his.
But what is that in the course? A
pappoose, a tiny, dusky bit of human
ity that has strayed away from the
tepee of Shunka Ii. and is playing con-
tentedly in the dusty course.
The horses are forging almost
abreast There is no time to hesitate.
1t is certain death to the child if it re-
main, defeat for him if he rescue 1t,
but there is only one thing to do.
The crowd takes in the situation, and
after one alarming groan. is silent,
Then in an instant jim swings himself
out of the saddle and seems TO cling as
if by magic to Roanoke's side. For
one awful second Roanoke's hoofs
thunder in his ears, then he grasps the
bare, brown arm of the shrieking child
and is back again in the saddle. Earth
and sky reel before him. The shouts
of the people reach him like the far-on
echo OF another world. He is dimly
conscious of the tiny brown body tight
ly pressed against him, but Roanoke
never swerves.
Coteau Queens driver is flashing her
mercilessly. They are almost home.
Faster, Faster, Now Roanoke is under
the wire like a flash The race is won.
Pandemonium reigns. Every one
shouts as in common voice.
Bravo! Bravo. Hurrah for Jim and
the kid"
Won after all. an carryin extra
weight. an every pounds a foot in a
runnin race"
She's the best mare in South Da-
kota."
Pla-Souie, the pappoose's mother,
hangs on the outskirts of the dusty
throng her green and yellow blanket
sounding a dominant note OF color.
Though anxious to recover her baby,
she is too timid to assert herself.
Seeing Judge Osborne approaching,
Jim dismounts. The judge parts the
throug with outstretched hand.
We'll done, my boy. well done. My
daughter tells me you are thinking of
selling Roanoke. Don't be in n hurry
about il. Wen talk il over at dinner
OF course you'll be up-at 7-yes,'
Just then from the bulletin board
flashes tire ominous words: "All bets
declared of.
But jim. handing the pappoose back
10 its eager mother. neither sees the
words nor hears the EXPLANATIONS OF
the men around him. He is thinking of
the evening-after dinner.