Evening star., 1943-04-29

W O q D
sheep dog run
Henry McLemore. ming ahead. It
was my intention to visit the old
castle, dream among the flowers In
the garden, listen to the cuckoos
chirp and generally spend an up
lifting day.
I caught the train at Waterloo
Station (Windsor is only 40 or so
minutes ride from London) early
In the morning and was surprised
to find the train packed with what
I thought to be sight-seers like
myself. This Is what America
needs more off, 1 thought. when
the English have a holiday they get
out In the country and commune
with Nature and regain touch with
the birds, bees, insects, trees and
shrubs"
When the train reached Windsor
every one piled off at terrific clip,
all but running over one another
to reach the fresh air. This Is
interpreted as the natural English
eagerness to get out under the sky
and clouds. The people don't want
a single bud to burst or one bird
call to escape them.' I thought.
I decided to follow the crowd.
which seemed to know exactly
where it was going. These peopls
undoubtedly knew every beauty
spot and for a stranger not to fol-
low them would be foolish. So of
we went helter skelter up la,ss
and down through the Windsor
great park, scattering deer and
other noble animals over the moors
and down the downs.
Attire Is Puzzle.
Only one thing puzzled me and
1t for just a moment. The peopls
didn't look like sight-seers. They
weren't dressed for a day In the
country. A majority of them wore
bowler hats, Tattersall vests and
there was a goodly sprinkling of
diamond horseshoe stickpins. But
once again reasoned that this was
just another sure sign that no mat.
ter how eity-bound an Englishman
might be most of the time, give him
holiday and he heads for tho
country.
Soon, what I thought was ths
Castle came into view. The crowd
quickened its pace. 1t was a large,
imposing structure and my mind
drifted back to the days of Henry
VIII. There was the sound OF
horses hooves. Good thought,
III see the Kings guards on pa
rade and maybe I'll get a view of
royalty close at hand"
Well, I might as well tell you
where the crowd was going and
where I wound up. Not in any
castle or garden but in a race track.
The Windsor Race Track. The
Londoners I had followed didn't
care a hoot if the birds sang their
heads off or the flowers burst into
bloom at a record pace.
They thought they had some
thing good in the first, second,
third. fourth, or fifth at Windsor
and were wearing themselves out
getting there before the bookies cut
the prices. 1t was Belmont. Santa
Anita, Jamaica, Fair Grounds and
Hialeah all over again.
Being a philosophical soul I ac-
cepted this cruel turn of fate and
settled down to an afternoon of
what the English like to call punt
ing" l threw away my Baedeker
and grabbed racing form. At the
same time tout grabbed me, prov
ing that a sucker is a sucker the
world over.
He Falls for Tout's Tip.
That tout spotted me as quickly
as a dog would sirloin steak. He
not only had the dope on the horses
but. like all touts, had inside, con-
f1dential information that was
straight from the stables-and like
sucker, believed him.
1 went for a pound in the first
race-pardon, the two oclock"-on
thing rightly called "Booby Trap"
and in the two-thirty I tried to get
1t back on Blue Fir Tree"
A claiming platter is the same in
England as he is In America. These
two articles ran as If they had lust
heard that Lease-Lend had been
voted down by Congress and thev
were out to make 1t tough on Anneri-
cans. The other four horses I bet
on ran as If what the first two
nags had only heard as a rumor
had been ratified by the Senate.
But. perhaps, the horses did me
a good turn. BY the sixth race 7
was cleaned out and as the double
English summertime provides a.
twilight that lasts until nearly 10
O'Clock, I got in some sightseeing
after all; not much, of course, be-
cause my head was bent low looking
for an old shilling or two to Get
back to London on.
distributed by McNausht Syndicate. fne,