The Washington times., 1915-12-19

= YOW strange are the vagaries of
- fortune! At the very instant
i when the ardent believers in
Little Joe were filling their
lungs for final shout of triumph. a
gay little red balloon darted out on the
track, where the horses were pounding
down the stretch. whirled saucily in
front of the favorite's nose. shot
straight up in the air. and sailed mer-
rily across the intield toward the green
hills and the blue sky For only an in
finitesimal space of time the nervous
Little jos had shied and checked his
speed; but that space was enough to let
A. dun-colorcd stranger by the name of
Tippy fash under the wire at eighteen
to one.
The hound." mumbled small man
at the rail. and his face was so blank
in the first moment of disappointment
that it brought a chuckle from the ad-
Joining large gentleman with the round,
pink face.
Cheer up. neighbour he consoled
the Walkng'S good"
The small man. thus addressed. cast
on. the tiorid big J. Rufus Wallingford
cautious one. Cordial of manner was
the forid one. and ioVial of eye and
broad of white waistcoat. and in his
rich cravat .Eiowed a 5000 diamond.
small man glanced once more to the
right and to the left before he an
swered.
Had a hundred on that rabbit" he
We'll, a hundreds hundred"
ChuCkled the big man.
ITS 4 thousand when you lose It on
q RED balloon objected the lean and
lank Blackie Daw, climbing down from
the fence. where he had been perched
like a jumping Jack on a stick. He set
on his head the silk hat which he had
been waving in encouragement to Little
lnustachc. At that moment Blackie' 3
eye caught the glisten and CLINT of
something white in the crowd. 1t was
the head of Onion Jones. so bald that it
looked freshly peeled: and Onion was
winking and making mysterious signs
at the rate of about seven to the second.
Giving jim the "high-sign'' Blackie
slipped away! and. following Onion to
the Erandstand found there Violet
arden and her sister. Fannie. both
their pretty faces flushed with excite
"Ihcre's the man exclaimed Violet,
her blue eyes dancing as she caught
Blackics sleeve.
Mr.. Hutch! You were standing right
By him. Percy w. Hutch. We followed
him out here.
oh. did YOU" and Blackie grinned
down at her appreciatively before he
paralleled her gaze to the small man
with the say maitland. And is that
the shrimp who helped clean out the
Warden estate after the death of your
father: Wen, its punk for Percy. How
much did he GET
Forty thousand dollars" 1t was
brown-eyrd i'annie who answered this,
and her checks turned shade pinkei
asSJ. Rufus happened to look up and
catch her muSing gaze. 'He is number
thirteen on the list She opened her M
of names. Twelve had been scratched
out. The thirteenth was Percy ",
Hutch. He is a lawyer but he is
meyer meyer IN ms nn,t %ffiGe; hir, we cont kn'"
Leave that to us" said Blackie
Wen tell you all about him when we
hand you that forty thousand. Me
back to the works on the jump, ladies
| kiss you chastely on the foreheads."
His long legs were springinS dowr
the steps second after. and noddint
Significantly toward the small man az
he approached WallinGfoId. he came II
to the rail on the other side of Mr.
Hutch, and asked.
"What 40 you thinl; of the next race
.Iim?"
Lady Lou,". J. Rufus promptly re
piled. waiting for his cue. u know
Lady rou's sure money, because sh'
was tnutcd to me by a barber who's,
cousin was "A stable boy ten wears ago.
NO chance" was the contemptuou
answer as BlaCkic grinned at the Smal
man. "TlI tell you why. No LADY
horse has won n race this meet. Lad!
SwiScoe came in last in tho first rac
TO-DAY; Lady Sandy fell down yester
day and broke her collar bone: Lad!
O. Dreams was ruled off the track 10
staggering under too much hop. Never
thelcss. Jimsey. my boy, I'll let you be
OH her against the field-for a hundre'
even"
j. Rufus was about to reject this out
rageous offer with proper Indignation
but nc caught something in Blackie'
YOU poor lollop" he con1miserated
II hate to rob an imbecile, but your
on"
,~HeIIp Yourself" gsyly re returne e,
man. "Eettcr get in, "trsngcrr;, ~,
ANY more at that Frice"' IN
stranger was mOiSt-lipped al the though
Of a. bet so attractive:
Once more j.. Rufus studied tha
nick"I IN Ilack",s IS eye; then vith iney stnn p"1
were ton years too young for him hi
palHd blue eyes We're set too close to
%ether; his mouth was too close to M
noae. and his chin TOO close to RI
mouth. and his ears too far from tn
front of his face. On general primer
nles. the tord big man frowned at hin
but the hlaCk-m"sta"hcd one laughed.
"Piker," he tauated his friend Jim
it?"
"Certainly." A slight flash of tempe
in the broadchested Jim. for tauntin
was a common diversion between thes
two. He turned to the stranger. Your
on. neighbor. for a hundred
The pallid blue ewes almost sparkled.
Make it two hundred"
wouldn't YOU Ike to have my stick
pIn?" sarcasticallv rejoined the big mar
Cant I donate something to your pc
Charity?"
"Ca'm yourself. Jimmy: cam your
self" soothed >the grinning Blacki'
l. zfzl-
one. and give him credit. Urge hin
stranger: he'll bite"
The stranger hesitated then, with a
uncertain smile. he walked away.
THE hundred goes. anyhow he a'
sured them over his shoulder. "I'll b
hack In time for the race
what kind of a party IL Littl