Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-12-04

the time of the catastrophe he was
the first favoritc for the Wessex Cup,
the betting being three to one on him.
He has always, however, been u prime
favoritc with the racing public, and
has never yet disappointed them,
so that even at those odds enormous |
sums Of money have been laid upon him. |
Ii is obvious, therefore, that there were |
many people who had the strongest in |
tercst in preventing Silver Blaze from
being there at the fall of the flag next |
Tuesday.
"'rhc fact was, of course, appre-
ciatcd at Kings Pyland, where the
Colonels training-stable is situated.
Every precaution was taken to guard
the favoritc The trainer, John Straker,
is retired jockey who rode in Colonel
Ross colors before he became too
heavy for the weighing-chair. He has
served the Colonel for five years as
Jockey and for seven as trainer. and has
always shown himself to be jealous and
honest servant. Under him were three
lads; for the establishment was small
one, containing only four horses in all
One of these lads sat up each night in the
stable. while the others slept in the loft.
All three bore excellent characters
John Straker, who is n married man,
lived in a small villa about two hundred
Yards from the stables. He has no chill
dren. keeps one maid-servant, and is
comfortably off. The country round
is very lonely, but about half mile TO
the north there is small cluster of
villas which have been built by a
| Tavistock contractor for the use OF
invalids and others who may wish 10
enjoy the pure Dartmoor air. Tavistock
| itself lies two miles TO the west, while
across the moor, also about two miles
distant, is the larger training establish
ment of Mapleton, which belongs 10
Lord Backwater, and is managed by
S,las Brown. In every other direction
the moor is complete wilderness.
in habited only by few roaming
gypsies. Such was the general situation
las; Monday night when the catastrophe
occurred.
"On that evening the horses had
been exercised and watered as usual,
and the stables were locked up at
nine O'Clock. Two Of the lads walked
up 10 the trainers house, where they
had supper in the kitchen, while the
third, Ned Hunter, remained on guard.
At few minutes after nine the maid,
Edith Baxter, carried down 10 the
stables his supper, which consisted of a
dish of curricd mutton. She took no
LIQUID as there was watcr-tap in the
stables. and it was the rule that the
lad on duty should drink nothing
else. The maid carried lantern
with her as IL was very dark and the
. 1 al l,
Edith Baxter was within thirty
yards Of the stables. when a man
appeared out OF the darkness and
called to her TO stop. As he stepped
into the circle Of yellow light thrown
by the lantern she saw that he was
a person of gentlemanly bearing, dressed
in a gray suit of tweeds, with a cloth
cap. He wore CATERS, and carried a
heavy stick with knob TO it. She was
most impressed, however, by the ex-
tremc pallor OF his face and by the nerv-
business Of his manner. His age, she
thought, would be rather over thirty
than under il.
Can YOU tell me where | ann
he asked. 4 had almost made up
my mind TO sleep on the moor, when
saw the light of your lantern.
You are close 10 the Kings Py-
land training-stables,' said she.
oh, indeedl What a stroke Of
/ luckr he cred. i understand tha,
|: stable-boy sleeps there alone every
night. Perhaps that is his suppei
, which you are carrying to him. Now
: | am sure that you would not be toe
proud to earn the price of new dress
would you% He took piece OF white
paper folded up out Of his waistcoat