Between the Rails.

Hastings Standard, Issue 205, 24 December 1896, Page 3

Between the Rails.

SPORTI N<. Y I USi:. hie i-At - .linn OF I'KoToMAIMVIi. k Sl'Kt"l U.LY WRITTEN l'»U Tllr. ll.\STlNlis> M \M'\l:i>. 'Tuns !he d of ;i.. N-:ti--ti d St; eple. Ami the pride of the 1 ...vin". V> Ue re ; The course w.is . t an ; otiine.l full «.f p-.jp!e And their voices rung high in it'.e air. " Six to four" on Knight of the Garter, i»ld-i i 'i and Ness: YVhiJ t.'« n. .Jiier i-f Maud- I'voto- Many r \V. lit h :.t JiV.n.L.-.K. no less! She vv it- V •*, the and a dorter W mlmg the vi.;nu 'no. they said. Neither amateur jock. lit. or mutl. or Good rider, could win on lYin, o-s. ><) I i ilnilv vtiit down f. r my earner b.d" ov -'d* with Decoy and The Stag. Anil d. -p t« i ! their chaffing and banter. i\i pt ni.> i ■ f well lixed on the ting. She vv.is bred jlist as clean n< they breed them. Long and low. full of courage and lire ; Well I knew I'rse.r. >- could out.spell them And be traVfiiing when the others would tire. I saw her one day when a baby. Clear a fence six feet odd or more ; "I'was no marvel —be that as it may lie No y< :u ling had done it before. So I broke her, and trained her, and t;night her To wait for the touch on the bit. And the Manvr's game galloping daughter Had never been once known to hit. She could leap like a deer, ruunning. standing. Her mouth was as soft as the hand Of a school girl—and smartly on landing She was oil"on her stride low and grand. How my head swum when facing the starter; I was racing the cracks of the place On a friendles- unknown I'roto-Martyr Wiio had never yet run in a race. Like the tksh of a gun redly gloaming Down tiuttered the ijuiv'ring Hag, And away to the right we went streaming la the wake o( George Moore and The Stag. There were Redskin and Jess locked together Cutting out a desperate pace, And Bee and Blue Bonnet and Feather Were already well out of the race. On my right like a statue -Tack Baker Sat and hung to the favourite's head, And I felt that the pace was a raker As over the greensward we sped. At the treble, up and over, all flying We charged past the black, heaving stand, And like echoes of batteries dying Fled the crash of the thundering band. Down the back stretch a rough stake and binder, Floored Ilex and Jess, and Cigar ; And my darling with Baker behind her Shot over it ull like a star. Far over the plains rang the thunder Of hoof strokes a dozen or more ; And the heavens were riven asunder By a simultaneous roar. For the field was spread-eagled and scattered. The cracks were all back in the ruck, And the maiden, foam splashed, mud bespattered, Flashed on full of running and pluck. At the double Merganser paid forfeit, The dug ditch disposed of Decoy, And Ness, who was palpably off it, Turned turtle and half killed lier boy. Then the shimmer of water before her Madetheuiare slightly shorten her stride, And Knight of the Gaiter and Nora Came rushing along by her side. Up we went, I could scent the sweet heather, I could feel Baker's breath as we rose, And we landed side t >y side, locked together. Like implacable, bloodthirsty foes. With a laugh that set me a-trembling He passed me and led by a length, But I knew that 'twas clever dissembling, He was only taxing my strength. So I waited and watched, she was trying Her hardest to rush to the lead, But the pace that the leader was Hying Was steadily sowing its seed. Two furlongs from home we were racing. The Knight gamely tearing ahead, And the others all hopelessly chasing The green sleeves that gallantly ltd.

At the last fence I caught him and passed him, How she plunged at the crack of his whip! And over the flat we outclassed him For speed 'cross the rise and the dip. He came to her girth at the railing Under punishment, came at her fast. But Knight of the Garter was failing. His hour of triumph was past. In the straight I was first; locked together iiehind us came Nora and Jess, And the Knight at the end of his tether Three lengths to the bad more or less. The '* bookies " grew hoarse with their cheering, Such a '■ skinner " they'd not had for months, And the cracks they were joyfully jeering For getting " put down " by a dunce. Here's the moral—You'll find in a tussle Where duffers come in all alone. Ail otii'.cr ef Mood in 11 ;<• liist-c-'e Will put down a whole mountain of hone."

And if ever a horse faces With a pedigree—Miuii.l, good, and true Remember the line And the shekels will mil in to you