Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-09

nized perfectly that his last great race
must be a sweepstakes. he gave his
best to bring aid to the one he had
loved as only a horse may love and
serve Loyalty.
Do horses have souls? What thor
oughbred lover doubts 1t? Beautiful.
tender, brave, loving souls to match
their stout hearts. And in LIES great
crises, who shall say that the soul OF
a horse may not shine brighter and
finer than that of many a human?
What Of the soul of that steed who
carried Paul Revere? What of the
laundering midnight charger who car
ried little Phil Sheridan down into
Winchester? What of a thousand
horses to whom, all down history. men
and nations have owed their lives?
y X
THE fear went completely from Bar
ney Wades brain. He talked to
Black Bullet on the terrific hills,
coaxed him on level stretches, handled
him with all the skill he had in his
power. We've got to win, Bullet!
We've got to! We must"
And then, at last. the final grade
down into the Green River Bridge
showed ahead. The horse was run
ming on sheer nerve now. Nostrils
and eyes were swollen to bursting and
his jaw swung open like that OF a
creature in agony.
Down the long hill came the final
effort. Foam-fiecked. hoofs beating.
rider hugging his neck like manikin,
in 12-foot leaps Black Bullet trod road
way. And then. scarcely thousand
feet from the bridge on the east. came
the last great test of all.
Jimmy Shaw's fiivver slowed in the
sand ruts. In mad haste to get out
Of the way, the hotel clerk, with wife
and baby beside him. succeeded only
In turning half sideways. stalling his
engine. blocking the highroad.
Sheer momentum would not permit
Black Bullet to stop now. On either
side were bitches and alders-no room
to go around. Dazedly. Barney saw
it. And Black Bullet saw, too. The
f1ivver's top was down. In the flicker
of an eyelid there was one solution.
Horse and rider took IT. They had
no alternative. The racer did not
slacken. His mad pace increased
| Barney crouched low, like an eagle
| for a swoop.
up over 1t. old lover
| And Black Bullet went up.
A great snort came. A woman
screamed insanely. Something like a
midnight avalanche stove straight at
l
/ without a touch or a click, the horse
passed over. Thereafter was a dust
cloud, the beat Of great hoofs on a
bridge.
THIS Spring at Churchill Downs.
l. Barnaby Wade's come back" has
made turf history. I am writing this
sketch on an afternoon in May. In
| this moons New York papers l see
several editorial columns given over
to Barney Wade's grit. They have
much to say about 'horse sense and
man sense riding In harmony
courage and a stout heart"-'will to
determination"
Perhaps Ii was an epitomiZation OF
the best there is in thoroughbred rae
| ing. and all that. Perhaps the best
there is in sports. because it is visual
/ proof that blood will tell.
| But certainly Barnaby Wade would
never have been there and handled
| Golden Bess to victory, and certainly
frenzied girl-wife would never have
| been cheering him. up in the boxes.
had not another horse run another
derby up in the hills Of New England
Do horses have souls?
Sam Hold SAYS that when Barney
came back with Doc Johnson and the
ambulance. the first thing Lettie
| Wade asked on opening her eyes was
where's Black Bullet?"
Barney's face washed with tears.
He turned his face away.
Barney! Barney! Where's Black
Bullet?"
No one answered her.
She tainted little while after that.
Johnson applied first aid. She re-
gained consciousness again as they
! were lifting her into the ambulance.
Barney" she cried family, what
did he do"
Saved you. honey" Uncle Joe
answered.
They started the ambulance. and
Barney rode that course second
time seated in 1t.
And all the way down into the VII
lage. the half-conscious girl kept re-
peatipg:
He's trotting just behind US.
Barney. Can't you hear his hoof-
beats? Tell the driver not TO go go
fast. Somehow Black Bullets
tired he wants TO keep
up. It's so
cruelty hard ="
Copyright. 1879