Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-30

his feet daintily. As he trod the yielding turf
he was the personification Of beauty, strength
and grace. He pranced and whirled restlesSly
at the starting line, and Tobias gently moved
him along to the point he wanted At a pre-
arranged signal from me Tobias let him go.
He passed me-a blur Of shining satin and
laundering hoofs.
I watched him through my glasses as he
gracefully cleared barrier after barrier and ap-
preached water jump at the far end Of the
course At this point I saw him swerve from
the course and disappear. Long and patiently
awaited his return. Finally, far on on the
horizon, tiny speck appeared. It was Alcan-
tara returning home. Tobias was crouched on
his back, and as he passed me caught a
glimpse of face expressionless as the back
not betray it.
A FTER the details of Alcantara's toilet were
attended to Tobias joined me.
what happened?" asked.
HE ran away" Tobias replied, and that was
his sole comment.
returned to the city and left Tobias to solve
the difficulty of making Alcantara go in the
right direction at the right time felt sure
that If this could be done, and If he proceeded
with anything like the rapidity he had shown
that afternoon, there was not living horse
that could pass him.
From then on Tobias worked in secret / saw
no more trials and had only meager reports
from the training field. Tobias and had a
few conferences at which we decided to play
for high stakes. We elected to let the minol
race meets go and to enter Alcantara In the
Bedford SteeplechaSe. This was described aa
an open steeplechase for gentlemen or profes-
sional riders, about miles of natural countryI
over post and rails and brush.
Then followed detailed statements as I'd
weights and other restrictions. The prize was
a small purse and piece of plate, but immense
prestige. We knew the field would be large and
the quality good, and the winner would jump
in value and reputation.
Both Tobias and Alcantara were found to|
meet all the requirements of the committee I'M
charge. Tobias attended to all the details and
I signed the entry blank and paid the minor
expenses. It was necessary for us to appearI
under colors This left entirely to Tobias whoI
acquired, at my expense however, appropriate
garments to wear the great day. His TASTE
in this connection was not what could have|
wished 1t to be. He chose tunic Of pure whiteE
with sleeves slashed with lavender, and laven-
der and white striped cap. 1t was bit more
conspicuous than the modest extent of my rae
ing stable seemed to justify, but here felt that
Tobias should have his way, as he was to ap1
pear in the garments not 1.
The week before the race saw little o.
Tobias. He spent all his time with Alcantars
or else in moody cogitation. found business
affairs irksome and could not seem to keep my
mind of the impending trial of speed.
The sporting sections of the newspapers wer,
q solace until they began to discuss the con
testants. Scant attention was paid to Alcan.
tara by any of the writer's Only one referred
to him at length, and then merely to enlarg'
on his bad behavior during training. AS thu
day of the race approached, however, many
strange stories began to appear. Not only wer,
his bad manners discussed, but there were hint
of lack of condition and innuendo as to physi
cal blemishes. I was enraged by this and
sought Tobias to see what could be done
stem the tide Of misstatement Tobias professet
never to have heard of any of 1t, and as he wa
evidently deeply engrossed in more fmportan
matters, as well as suffering from a severe at
tack of melancholia, I decided to accept hi
dictum that the least said the sooner mended
AT last the fateful day came. was earl
on the field and felt strangely nervous and ii
at ease. read the entry list thousand times