The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-15

Win no DuyerB-R nttb0 saNeu Oh enooP
Of a district messenger kid in Uniform
wabbled up to my high stool and slipped
me an envelope. The envelope was ad-
dressed to me, and it contained a $40 bill
and a note signed by a man I'd never heard
Of before. The note requested me to put
the $40 on Prinoelet at whatever price l was
laying at the moment the kid handed me
| the envelope. The kid would wait for an
answer-that is to say, he'd wait till after
the race. / had my sheet writer scribble
the 81 500 to $40 Princelet bet Of the sheet,
and the messen ger kid, who seemedto know
the contents OF the envelope he had brought
me, wandered of on to the lawn to view
the race.
"Prinoelet made the rest Of his field look
like the component parts Of an onion ONE
lette souf1e pulled up with dynamite yeast
and I'd taken In about 5000, all told, on the
other crabs In the joust to Offset the 81 ,6OO
to $40 ticket on Prncelet. And 1 was the
only glue in the ring to take any straight
Prinoelet-the others had only pencilled a
bit Of the thing to show for the dollar marks
men, and Tom Mannix had got all OF his on
by p~rearrangement In the New York pool
rooms.
Il didn't care to let the messenger kid
have 8 1870 in a bundle and 80 l found out
from him where / could find his man the
next day and told the kid to tell his man that
the bet went and that I'd dig him up In the
morning I sprung him ali right the next
morning and slipped him the papers. He
was a smart young pen pusher in the Treas
ury Department. and he was bending over
a desk and covered with ink when / found
him.
1T seems that on the night before the
Prinoelet race he'd heard me kidding Tom
Mannix In a hotel lobby about Prinoelet,
Mannix's worst counterfeit. And my kid
ding of Mannix had been the pen pushing
Treasury boys hunch-he'd made up his
mind then and there TO invest $40 to see II
be couldn't tie a can to one booknaker's
theory about an alleged race horse. Having
no chance to make the track himself, he'd
sent the messenger kid out, and there you
be.
Il was the only drop mug in the Bennings
ring on that Gwynne thing that sloshed by
in the soaked sand with the century figure
scratched against him q few years ago.
Gwynne Tompkins, the trainer Of jumpers,
got me in the bog or that one. l had the
prices up on the race when Tompkins swung
by looking for the best he could get on the
favorite, which was chalked at 4 to s or some
such figure.
srHey, Gwynne. talking about Roquefort
and things I called after him, here's one,'
and I pointed out the name Of his 100 to 1
namesake at the top Of my slate. got my
self into that mess, all right.
"Ye-eh,' said Tompkins, coming back to
my stool. Fine. Nice price against the
namesake curd, too, isn't theref III just
take SO each way across the plank on that,
Mr.. Kidder, just for the sake Of seeing you
worry a little
sTompkins hadn't an idea in the world
that Gwynne would finish before the follow
ing Wednesday, but he's n of those fellows
that hate to be strung, and when he passed
me the three sawbucks | had TO register him
81, 900 to $40, $500 to $40 and $500 to $40 against
Gwynne. Gwynne h'isted skys'ls and royal
stu'ns'l Is at the top Of the stretch and came
into port like a Bath built tea clipper that's
raced all the way from Yokohama around
the Horn to Fire Island every stitch set and
lee rail awash.
Talking about Roouefort and things
said Tompkins TO me when he dropped
around a couple Of minutes later to collect,
there's one and he pointed to the mud
caked Gwynne being led of to the paddock
to have the hose turned on him.
Fetching it down to the spring meeting
here last year, / got the knucks for $500
worth of Waddell H., ~Bradlel'1 horse, the
time he won at 100 to /, after the horses had
left the post and were on their way.
sJust about the time for the horses to go
In that race and the sheet to be closed and
toted up, noticed a nervous wisp Of a man
twitching up and down q little way in front
OF my stool, pulling on his hat every four
seconds or so to scratch his head, and acting
like somebody just contemplating a sudden
fall Of the water wagon.
He was shaking his head and mumbling
to himself a good deal Ind acting as II the
peanut boy or the Frankfurter peddler
had short changed him.
4Two OF three times he pulled his hat over
his eyes in a dead game sort Of way and made
o couple OF steps toward my stool as if he
meant to do it then or bust, but after the
first two steps he'd sort Of pull up and falter
and then fade back, shaking his head and
mumbling, like as If he just couldn't make
I'D his mind to do the desperate thing he
had in mind.
They're Off croaked Jack Adler, and
I started to climb down from my stool to
hop out and watch the race.
Il saw the wisp Of a man making for
me. He had a IS note in his trembling
hand.
a'Waddell,' he gasped at me Pull
lease, mister, take it-Waddell.'
Il knew that he hadn't been able TO see
the start, hedged in as he was by the crowd
and that he'd simply waited till the last
minute, OF the minute after, before maxi
ing up his mind. So 1 gave my money man
the IS and called the $500 to IS bet of to my
sheet writer. Then I drilled out to the
steps, Just in time to see Waddell clomping
into the stretch with about an acre OF open
daylight separating him from the nearest
one to him. Waddell finished with his
mouth open and his tail swishing imaginary
flies, winner by ten lengths, and when
the wisp Of a man st. Vitus'd around for
his S5o5 he was gibbering and making BOBBY
hatch motions in the air with his fingers.
90. Fall Guy Bowles. Their Mark is
the way I'm going to sign my monaker
hereafter, and I've always had a perfectly
lovely time at this Bennings party