The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1904-07-31


artiess name Of Babe" they
considered that, with fun regard 10 his
cxuberant innocence, they had let him
down with a gentle solicitude worthy
a. the mess. II he had sulked about
il he would have stepped right into
hard training for any trying condition
OF affairs that might have awaited him
in a future state. But he had just the
most beautiful oiled temper that
ever ran smoothly in any piece Of
human mechanism. They drew him,
arc MADE Use C him: they drove
cholera cut OF the camp at Cocowan TO
The FIFE and drum OF the Babes laugh
ter. and 10 the laughter that came
from his exploit with an elephant. The
elephant had ideas. as elephants have,
and SO had Bsbe-sometimes. The re
suit was that men who were buried at
10 o'clock the next day laughed that
day But this is 2 story Of the Babe
and three horses. not the elephant
Bear in mind that Tobyn was in the
first hush OF the glamour of life in
India. The ethics OF betting, the
subtle uncertainty Of racing the per-
picking art of knowing just what 10
do al the right moment were all tum-
bling n upon him with the cyclonic vio-
lence Of Z southwest monsoon. de
would survive. Of course-at least, he
likely would. but in the meantime he
was in z magic labyrinth Of tortuous
experiences. But he had money, and
he shoveled il in.
Well. the three horses were Amir,
Rocket and Pegu. Not one of them be-
longed 10 Tobyn; they belonged TO men
who could almost do the mango tree
trick" Their names were John, James
and Henry. as they say in the school
books. which viii do very well for this
tale. They were all entered in the
Railway Plate''-the horses. of course
and men said the betting mill would
be a big one. That was. between Amir
and Rocket particularly. The Rail
way Plate" was mile on the fat
distance which suited both horses.
Pegu was supposed to lie down and roll
over after he had gone a half mile, for
that was his limit-five furlongs at the
very outside. The terms Of the race
called for three starters, and that was
really why Pegu had been put in. He
was, as il were. a subsidized interest.
and being forlorn runner native
jockey was thought good enough to
pilot him, and much cheaper. That's
what Henry. his owner, thought; so he
put up Abdul. little better than a sta
bic boy, who only knew enough 10 sit in
the saddle and let the horse use his
own discretion-which. after all, is not
such very bad thing.
Before the race John, the owner Of
Amir. took counsel with himself It
would be a near thing between his
horse and Rocket-either might win
He could not depend on Amir's win
ming. but he could upon Rockets. In
fact. he quite convinced himself that
Rocket had much the better chance: so,
through friend. he backed the other
mans horse heavily. It was a thor
oughly sound enterprise, based on OBJ
Kious principles. But James was not so
sure about Rocket winning as was his
friend John. He had uneasy qualms
about the horse. What if Amir could
stay the mile-he was certainly faster
than Rocket2 1t was too risky: he
would back the better horse, Amir. So
he sent trusty henchman, who loaded
up the willing "bookies" with bets on
Johns horse. Amir, 1t was a generous
thing to DO, this backing Of each 9TH
er's horses; an unselish thing; and
they hid their good under a bushel; did
not let the right hand know what the
left was dOing-said not a word TO each
other. OF course, the result Of this
steady plunge on the part of the own
ers caused Amir and Rocket to rule
close favorites in the betting. It was
10 on-take your choice. Also be-
cause Of this and because he really
hadn't ghost Of a chance, Pegu glided
out in the betting until he was 20 to /.
This was a charming sort of arrange
ment for the Babe TO wander up
against He had a happy faculty Of
finding intricate combinations of this
sort, and his supreme indifference to
results and complete faith in his own
ability usually run him hard and fast
on the sunken rock. When he asked a
friend what he should back the friend
blithely answered: "Amir-nothing
else In IT," That being so, he felt that
he must do something substantial; so
be had 1000 rupees on the horse 1t
was an exhilarating start, and he
whistled cheerfully as he walked
around to the front of the stand.
You are happy" said Captain LaveI,
meeting him on the grass promenade
Yes" answered Tobyn, I've just
backed the winner-that is to be-"
What's the good thing?" asked
Lsvel.
Amir; Grant says he can't lose"
Now, look here" exclaimed Label,
half angrily. Grants an ass. Amir
hasn't thousand-to-one chance. 1
know him, for ] used to own him. He
can't stay the distance: seven -eighths
is as far as he can get. He'll crack
Up a furlong from home at the pace
Rocket'll set him."
He looked with angry compassion
into the face Of Tobyn, and the latter
drew the toe Of his boot thoughtfuIIy
across the grass, making Maltese
crosses, as though he would force his
thought into some sort Of shape.
Lsvel's information had staggered him.
What the deuce did Grant mean by
putting him onto a horse like that