Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-16

"Huh?" he commented. WHO says
amt? / been gallopin nags since
was years old, ! have. / had ar
uncle that owned some trotters, and
he gave me the air cause l made EN-
run. / don't like cold-bloods. anyway
| like to shove 'em. do. Gee whiz
lady. you ought to see me in action
When / send EN-, they got
Mother Slap began to chuckle. "Yol
don't tell me- she rippled. AND
you've been workin' horses since you
was s? And how many centuries age
was that. may l ask"
He hesitated. and then achieved
brave mendacity. I'm l6, l am
Are YOU, now?" she commented
You're small for your size, aren't
YOU? Faith, II you're t6. | must be a
mere lass of 81, suppose you mean
Is months? Don't be tibbin' to your
mother, or III have to punish YOU.
Look me in the eye and tell me how
old you are
Driven to the wall. the midget shift
ed uneasily from one foot to the other,
"Aw," he pleaded, II can't remember
everything. l can't. Why don't you
help a Teller out? Mr.. Ryan said you
was a sport. he did. He said you had
swell eats and would treat a guy right.
He said you'd be a mother to me. he
did. And I'm darn hungry. Sos Han
nah Mr.. Ryan gave me some money
and l lost it. We amt put on the
nose bags for 1.-TWO whole d-days"' His
lips quivered suspiciously. He sat
down on the porch and folded a small
arm over a region that was undoubt-
eddy very empty He could have taken
no swifter route TO Mother Slap's
heart.
In a month Jackie was the most i'm
portant member of the household.
Mother Slap adored him: the older
boys delighted in tormenting him: the
entire village watched him with
amused interest.
No one took him seriously. and
therein lay the canker that gnawed at
the heart of Jackie O'Day. Ambition
was the largest part of him, and many
times the door of disappointment was
slammed in his face. He expected to
get his riding license at once. He ex-
pected to have owners and trainers
trying to outbid one another for his
services. He would have accepted a
mount on Man-o'War. But none of
these things happened.
The only man who displayed any in
terest in Jackie O'Day was Pete Muir
ply. the truant off1cer.
''The only entry you'll have around
here" said Pete. lis in the school
handicap. Don't let me catch you
hangin' around the track outside of
school hours. Go get your leg-up on
the capital city of Roosia. Then come
and tell me-"
Jackie was an unwilling pupil in
school. interested in nothing outside of
He spent his class hours
surreptitiously reading form charts
and racing news concealed in the COW
ers of his books.
While Hannah whimpered in the
yard. pleading for him to come out
and play, Jackie could hear every now
and then the distant roar from the
grandstand that proclaimed the tri.
umph of boy and a horse. He was
Impelled to desperate measures.
He tumbled out at dawn and Joined
he swipes and exercise boys who gath
cred on the back stretch for the pre-
breakfast activities of the bangtail
brethren. Hannah trotted at his side,
as eager as his master to
be accepted in this picturesque stra-
tum of life. But they were brushed
aside.
Again and again the youngster ap-
pealed to Jiggs Bradley who trained
for Baltimore Ryan. How about
Job, mister? / can do anything. L
can! Better let me take out a nag
this morning. l can send 'em fine,
mister cam" But Jiggs only
laughed.
TT was Jupiter Pluvius who gave
- Jackie his place in the scheme Of
things. Late Spring rains descended,
the track into a sea of slop.
Fast-track horses went into retirement
and out came the veteran campaign
ers, the mud beetles of the industry.
Many were tender footed and a soft
track was their dish.
Star jockeys remained under shell
ter. So did the professional exercise
boys who had but one suit of clothes
to their wardrobe. Micky Hogan ex-
pressed the philosophy of the back
stretch: what dye think am, goofy?
This suit set me back SIS, and I'll
only get two bucks for ruinin' it! Fat
chancep'
Overnight the ''mud-bugs" sprouted
like mushrooms. These were the
like Jackie, to whom
with a chance to ride. Every race
track has it's ambitious infant brood,
but even the oldtimers at Latonia had
never seen so tiny prodigy as
Mother Slap's midget.
up you got" chuckled Jigss
Bradley. boosting the youngster to the
back of Corporal Joe, an aged, battle
SCARED campaigner with "dicky"
legs and a sulky disposition. He was
used principally as working mate
for the 4-year-old North Star, pride
of the Ryan stables. Jiggs didn't care
what happened to the Corporal Some
times it pleased the trainers fancy to
have little fun at the expense of
the tiny tads who bothered him.
Here's your big chance, jack he
told the midget, passing the wink to
bystanders. I'm gonna shoot with
this stake horse in the sweepstakes.
Gonna couple him up with North Star,
Show your stuff now, and If he's
ready for the question III let you
run for the bacon. Breeze him to
the quarter pole and then bust him.
Can you swim?"
Yes, sir"
"Awright! Make for shore il you
fall off and don't come back"
Jackie believed every word the
trainer had said. He pulled his cap
around, peak backward, took a double
wrap in the reins, and urged his
mount toward the dark shadows of
the stretch. A CLEAN of puzzled sur
prise lighted Jiggs' eyes. The mid
gets seat was firm, his balance per-
feet, the small hands firm and dex-
ferrous.
A minute later, Corporal Joe was
splashing heavily along the inner rail,
"A jealous pup racing furiously at his
heels and jubilant midget clinging
TO his shoulders like a burr
Jiggs, watching through field
glasses, saw that his instructions were
being faithfully obeyed. Corporal Joe
moved to the quarter pole, broke
and came on smartly. The ancient
gelding seemed TO be stepping with