Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-10-18


At the end of forty minutes aooq'k Bonfire
hdlf belieUed he had been skinned dl5ve.
Then as a rein was pulled he felt a
hundred sharp points pricking the SEN
sitiye skin around his mouth. With a
bound he leaped into the ring.
1t was very pretty sight presented
to the horse experts lining the rail and
to persons in boxes and tier seats.
They saw blockily built strawberry
roam, his chiseled neck arched in a
perfect crest, his rigid thigh muscles
ripping under shiny coat as he
swung his hooks, his slim forelegs
sweeping up and out, and every curve
of his rounded body from the tip Of
his absurd whisk broom tail to the
white snip on the end of his tossing
nose expressing that exuberance of
spirits, that jaunty abandon of mo-
ton which is the very apex of hackney
style Behind him short legged
groom bounced through the air at the
end of the reins, keeping his feet only
by means of most amazing strides.
1t was woman in one of the prone
made boxes, d young woman wearing a
stunning gown and a preposterous pic
ture hat, who started the applause.
Her hand clapping was echoed all
around the rail, was taken up in the
boxes and finally woke rafting
chorus from the crowded tiers above.
The three judges, men with whips and
1or,e foil n1 rs I'D 1nef1x n of
the strawberry roam.
And when it was all over, after the
judges had grouped and regrouped the
entries, compared figures and whisper
ed in the ring center, out Of sheer de-
fiance to the preference of the specta-
tors they gave the blue to a chestnut
FLY with black points, at which the
tier seats Kissed nightly. and tied a
red ribbon to Bonfire's bride. There
upon the strawberry roam pranced
daintily out of the arena.
Hardly had Bonfire's locked tail dis
appeared before the woman in the
stunning gown turned eagerly to a
man beside her and asked: Cant /
have him, Jerry? He'll be such per-
feet cross mate for Topsy. Please,
now"
To be sure Jerry grumbled some, but
inside Of quarter of an hour he had
found Hawkins and paid the price, a
price worthy of Sir Bardolph and
quite in keeping with Lochlynne reck-
onings
"'E's been car sick an show sick, :"
said Hawkins warningly, IAN it'll be a
good two weeks afore 'e's in proper
condition, sir But you'll find i'm as
neat a bit of 'ossfesh as you hever
owned, SIR
Nor was Hawkins wrong. When the
burs were taken off and the effect of
the doses from the long necked bottle
had died out Bonfire looked anything
but ribbon getter Luckily Mr.. Jerry
had coachman who knew his bust
ness. Dan was his name, County An
trim his birthplace He fed Bonfire
hot mixtures, he rubbed, be nursed,
until he had coaxed the cold out and
had quoted the tangled nerves. Then
one crisp December morning Bonfire,
once more in the pink of condition, was
hooked up with Topsy to the pole Of a
shining, rubber tired brougham and
taken around to make the acquaintance
Of Mrs. Jerry.
HOh, isn't he beauty, DAMP squeal-
ed Mrs Jerry delightedly as Bonfire
danced up to the curb. Isn't hep
For three years Bonfire had been in
leather, and be had found the life far
different from the duh routine Of cod
ding that he had known at the Loeb
lynne farm There was little monot-
ony about It, for the Jerrys were no
stay at homes. OF his oak finished sta
BILE, with its sanded floors and plated
straw stall mats, Bonfire saw almost