How Percy Became a Professional.

Auckland Star, Volume XXV, Issue 149, 23 June 1894, Page 11

How Percy Became a Professional.

The Story of a College Athlete.

By Wa&tbb CDchbn.

«lt was bad enough,' reflected Percy JtSrown, as he eat before his tent near the Cripple Creek mininer camp one evening, -• to waste half one's summer vacation look. ing for a gold mine, and finding not a grain I Bat when it comes to actually being robbed of what gold one brought with him from the east, why—'. Percy hesitated for words to express just how bad that was. Besides, as though to add insult to injury, he hadn't even been robbed decently. It might have been worth $200 (the sum he had lost) to have been robbed in what he had imagined the genuine western stylo ; to have a pair of masked "bandits, armed to the teefch and mounted on spirited horses, dash out from ambush and, in a manner as polite and gentlemanly as was consistent with their profession, relievo him of his valuables. That would have been an adventure worth telling about when he got back to college in the fall. Instead, he had • held up 'in the moat commonplace andunromantic fashion by two 4 hoboes,'— ordinary, dirty tramps—as be was coming down the mountain road on his burro, one of those tough little animals that supply the places of horses in mining canape While one of the robbers held a revolver so cloee to Percy's nose that he could smell the burnt powder of previous discharges, the other'went through ' him, and relieved him of the cash he had in his pockets and the money belt he wore around his body. Percy had been taken by surprise as he turned a corner of the road. _ The idea of resistance had entered his mind, but only for a moment. The villainous face of the tramp and the smell of the powder had the same effect on him that it would probably have had on ninety-nine of every hundred other men, and he submitted. Besides he Was anxious to have the affair over with as quickly as possible and get that pistol out of his face, for the hand that held it was not at all steady, and Percy ieared that the weapon might be discharged by accident, if not on purpose. , Percy had come to Colorado on a double mission. An old friend, interested in mining, had written to him in glowing terms of the chanca of a rich fjstrike' in the vicinity pf Cripple Creek, and then jjenver College chums had invited him to come out to see the country generally, apd with the particular idea pf pompfl|bjng in, the fall games of the Denver Athletic Club. Percy was a great sprinter, and won more,

than one prize for his college in the. 100. and 220 yard dashes at the intercollegiate, championships. He' had come prepared* with his. running suit) and spiked, shoes. Percy tried prospecting and kepb at ib for more than a .month. Ha and hia partner, Hall, with their libfcla burros, had tramped the mountain during that-time and worked like day labourers. It wasn't so bad at) first while the, excitement of the enterprise lasted, but. when the novelty began to wear off, Percy gob heartily- tired of it. Hall, too, had become rather disheartened ab their, bad luck, and was not at all surprised when Percy declared his inbenv tion of going to Denver. Percy started a fe,w days later for Florence, almost twenty miles distant;, where he could take a train. He did not go by stage, as Hall wanted to. return tha burro they had been using, which had been loaned to him by a friend in Florence. Percy had gob about ten miles from the Creek, when the robbery occurred. There seemed but one thing lefb to doto return to Cripple Creek, to his.'friend's tent, and borrow money for a railroad tickeb back to New York. Hia vacation, of course, was at an end, and with ib all hopes of carrying out the programme he had planned with his Denver friends. He surprised Hail, therefore, early in the evening, by riding up before the ten 6. Hall felb almost as badly as Percy himself, and took the entire blame for bhe mishap on his own shoulders, because he had asked Percy to ride the burro. 1 Hall did nob have the money Percy needed on band and ab once started for the Creek, aboub a mile distanb,. to get it, leaving Percy ta think mabbera over. Half returned in an hour breabhless and excited. 1 Percy, old man,' he asked, when he had recovered his breath sufficiently to talk, ' how fast did you tell tae you co.uld run a hundred yards V I I've done ib in ten and pno-fif bh seconds. Why?' •■ What sort of condition are you- in now ?' ' 'Pretty fair, I think. That) tramping over the hills has kepb me hard enough for a race. Bub whab's up !' • Why I just heard down ab the Creek thab old Colonel Simmons is going to give a §400 prize for a free-for-all foot race, distance 120 yards. There has been a lob of sporting talk here lately and there are five or six young fellows each of whom bhinkß he can get over bhe ground faster than any other two-lecrered animal in the state. One of them is thab lazy Indian, Bed Chip. They say he can run like a jack rabbit. The colonel, who is a great sport, has decided to give them a chance to settle the question, and ab the same time furnish the camp with a little fun. The race comes off in ten days in the road in front of the hotel. The winner gets $250, second man $100, and third $50. 4 Now,' continued Hall, taking breath, ' nob one of these fellows can do a hundred in anything like the time you hav<j, and you'can win that $250 as easy as picking up a nugget when you've found it.' ' Bub ib would make me a' professional,' said Percy, and he explained to Hall thab an amateur athlete loses his standing as such when he competes in a free-for-all race or for money. « I think the circumstances warrant your running,' was Hall's reply. 'Of course if you want to go back to New York in July, why that's your business.' Percy thought the matter over and delighted his partner an hour later by telling him he would prepare to train for the race next morning. I 1 can get my muscles limbered up nicely in that time,' he said. The day of the race found Percy in good copdition. There were eight competitors, five local runners, including Red Chip, the Indian, one from Colorado Springs, one from Denver, and Percy, who was entered as ' H. Brown,' H. being his middle initial.' In looking over his opponents, Percy was surprised to recogpise in the 'Thomas James, of Denver,' a well-known eastern professional sprinter, who had once been employed by an athletic club in New York as trainer. Percy realised that this was the man he would have to beat, especially as James' bright eyes and clear skin showed be was in good condition. The prospective race caused as much excitement in the camp as the discovery of a new gold mine, and the miners stopped picking up nuggets to witness stye sport. Of course nearly every one had a beb on the race. Such an opportunity for risking hardearned money had nob been presented in Cripple Creek for some time. There was no pronounced favourite at firsb as the miners knew nothing about the merits of bhe respective contestants, and backed the runnerS'blindly, one influenced, perhaps, by the length of limb of his choice ; another by the girth of the runner's calf. The Indian was as well backed as any, on account of the the traditional fleetness of his race and the boasts he had made. The Indian was the only one of the competitors who did nob wear spiked shoes, He stuck to his native moccasins. * It was noticed after a while thab three or four sporty looking individuals in the crowd were quietly placing all the money they could on James. Then it dawned on the minds of the crowd that James must be a ' ringer,' thab is a fast runner who is entered under an assumed name in some out of the way place where none knew him, with the idea of having bis backers make a big ' strike.' Everybody hastened to put a beb on James and the odds'against the other runners increased. Against Percy they were seven to one. Percy did nob beb, but Hall did, and he placed $50 against) $350 on ' that young benderfoob.' The course was nob wide enough for all the contestants. It was arranged, accordingly, to run the race in heats, four men in a heat. The first and eecond in these trial races were to run the final. Percy, Kpd Chip, Clark, a local runner, and the Colorado Springs man were drawn for the first trial, leaving James and the other local sprinters for the second. • The heats were nob interesting. In Peroy's, the Spring's man, starting awkwardly, fell before he had taken half a dozen strides. The Indian, of whom so much had been expected, it turned out, could nob run a little bib, much to the disgusb of his backers, who had been deceived by his bragging. Clark won, Percy romping in just fasb enough to keep ahead of Red Chip, thus reserving his strength for the final struggle. The time was 13 seconds. James easily won the second beab in 12 4-sth seconds, with Wilson second. Ib was now recognised by all that the race lay between Percy and James, and those who had not yet made a bet hastened to place one on the young tenderfoob or the ' ringer.' The latter, on account of his apparenb confidence and, more professional style, was still the favourite, After a quarter of an hour's rest the four contestants appeared for the final heat. The starter cried 'ready' and they walked to the mark. ' Geb set,' and each took the position from which be could get moving and into tho stride most quickly, A second later,-tho four runners were off as though they had been shob out of the starter's pistol. James had a trifle the best of it at the beginning. He djd not get away from bis mark any more quickly than the others but he was in the stride sooner, and ab 20 yards he led Percy by a yard. The other two were already oub of the race, apparently, so far as the firsb or second place was concerned. For 60 yards the professional held his advantage, though Percy strained every nerve and muscle to cut down hia lead, Then either James began to tire slightly, for sprinting, especially in heats, 1b hard work, or Percy had jusfc got well settled in-

to bis running for be began to gain inch by inch. < Twenty yards from the finish the pair were even, and running as though for a man's life. - Then Percy began to forga ahead. Jamee,; who aever took i his eyes from the tapo, felt ratner fcban saw this, and pub all his strength into a final desperate .e'flbrb. ; ":''•'' "" ;.'* Have you ever tried running down hill at full speed ? Ib is all right for a few strides, bub before you know j& joju are going so fast thab you can't) keep your lega under you, and unless you reach the level ab the foob of the hill disaster is'sure to overtake ■YOU. , ,- ■ -; ■ . . : ■ ■ : j . 1 Something like this happened to James. Such force did he throw into his effort that fora momenb he attained a speed beyond his natural litn.it. He passed Percy bu,t ha had run himself off his legs, and fell headlong ten feet) from the finish. Percy dashed on through, the tape a winner. Wilson was second half a dozen yards behind, and Clark third. The time was 12 2-sbh seconds—very fart under the circumstances, the yard, while smooth, having none of the elasticity of a cinder path. Thanks to the smoothness of the ground James received a lew bruises and a general shaking up, was nob injured, and r, purse, which the spectators collected for him oub of admiration for his plucky race, helped to solace his wounded feelings, Percy got his prize on the spot) in (jasjj and his vacation was restored. His adventure with the ' hoboes' bad after all been worth $50 to him—and $350 to his partner. Ha started for Florence again next day, but not on a burro. Thus it was that Percy Brown, the cplloga amateur, became a professional technicaUy, but nob in spirit. Under the circumstances he did not, of course, run ab the Denver Athletic Club games. Onhig return east, however, lie applied to the governing athletic association for reinstatement, giving the peculiar facts in the case, and so, before next season begins, Percy will, in all probability, again be recognised as an amateur athlete in good (standing.