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,, Years of dissipation andhard
ship had wasted him almost to
the lightness of a jockey. A& the
weeks went, by, hard, solitary
. training upon the lonely downs
effected a remarkable change.
Blue Blade' coat became glqssy,
'the old spring came back ta his
limbs, and the man, watching
fiim, knew that in spite of his age
he could still win. - "
Memories are "short upon the
turf. He had tof enter, the horse
under his name, to. produce evi
dence of various' sortsbut none
of those 'who laugjied at1 the old
v nag coupled him with the -ramou
1 r racer of years before that had so
.unaccountably 'failed "to make,
good. And-atast the day of the
race afrive'd.
They made a strange couple as
the man led his steed, trembling
with excitement and recollections
of earlien'years, out ; upon the
track. "ATfreak mount"," they
-called it. L
? They, loolced. at BUie Blade's
"teeth and Taughedl Odds of 10Q
to 1 were offered," ancf the -man.
placed ilOhfs las't -upon the
result. He mounted ; the gate
rose, and1 they were away. The
t ' rest was always a. dream to him.
It was a-vijd and tumultous
t dream oiswift horsies andmany
cdlo'red coat's, striving, together,
crowding.one upon another at the
turns. Untrained in the expe-
, rien,ce of the start, he was left b'e-
xt hincLat the beginning; a residue.
ol stiffness in the old nag's .legs.
namperea ner.
"Jacket after jacket wenthy;
was all his hope futile and he. to
be the butt of the race? Sudden
ly he felt his steed thrill and trem
ble beneath him. He pressed his
flanks. With a long bound he
had "sprung forward, his flying
feet hardly seeming to touch the
ground.
The colored coats drew closer,
blehded in,ar whirl of movement;"
he had cleared the third bend and
was raeirig up "the home stretch,
neck and neck-with the leader,
while a murmur of sound rose '
from the assembled spectators
and became a frenzy of cheers.
"Neck and -neck; .he saw the
judges stand in front of him; saw
the lean, quivering flanks of his
rival,' then the tape broke in a-blood-red
bar -on .the old horse's
breast. Blue Blade had come in
to his own. "
o 0- i-
Never a Word.
Not long- ago a clergyman was
called .jinon to conduct the serv
ices a'tjne funeral of a man witH
wfiom, heacl' had no acquaint
ance. So,-thuiking to glean a use
ful hint of two touching the de
ceased's character, when he was .
shown -into" the living-room, the
divine called a little boy of eight,
evidently a member of the familyr
and put to hira this question : -
VCan you tell meAvhat were the
last words of, your father?''" -.
"He didn't haveany'-respond-ed
the,lad with the utmdst naiv
ete. "Ma was with him to the.
last'-Ladies' Home Journal.
0 p
A man, in Denver had both ears
cut off and now has no place to
carry his pencil.
