ay stable!'

"'Ah was breeding stake hawsses, suh,' says ole man Sanford, 'when his
mothah's milk was not yet dry upon the lips of young McVay.'

"When the silks come, I picks out a real soft spot for Trampfast. It's
a six furlong ramble fur has-beens 'n' there's sure a bunch of kioodles
in it! Most of 'em ought to be on crutches. My hoss has showed me the
distance in fourteen, 'n' that's about where this gang'll stagger home.
With the hop in him the Trampfast hoss'll give me two seconds better.
He ought to be a swell bet. But the hop puts all the heart in him
there is--he ain't got one of his own. If he runs empty he'll lay down
sure. I can't hop him, so I won't bet on him with counterfeit money.

"The mawnin' of the race ole man Sanford's at the stalls bright 'n'
early. He's chipper as a canary. He watches Chick hand-rub the hoss
fur a while 'n' then he pulls out a roll 'n' eases Chick two bucks. I
pipes off the roll. The ole man sees me lookin' at it.

"'Ah intend to wageh moderately today,' he says. 'And Ah have brought
a small sum with me foh the puhpose.'

"'What you goin' to bet on?' I says.

"'Ma own hawss, of co'se, suh,' he says. 'It is ma custom to back only
ma own hawsses or those of ma friends.'

"I don't say nothin'. I'm wise by this time, he plays the game to suit
hisself, but it sure makes me sick. I hate as bad to see the ole man
lose his dough as if it's mine.

"I goes over 'n' sets down on the track fence.

"'When you train a hoss fur a guy you do like he says, don't you?' I
says to myself. 'You don't own this hoss, 'n' the owner don't want him
hopped. They ain't but one answer--don't hop him.'

"'But look-a here,' I says back to myself. 'If you sees a child in
wrong, you tells him to beat it, don't you? It ain't your child, is
it? Well, this ole man ain't nothin' but a child. If he was, he'd let
you hop the hoss, 'n' make a killin' fur him.' I argues with myself
this way, but they can't neither one of us figger it out to suit the
other.

"'I wish the damned ole fool had somebody else a-trainin' his dog!' I
thinks after I've set there a hour 'n' ain't no further along 'n I was
when I starts.

"When it's gettin' towards post time, ole man Sanford hikes fur the
stand.

"'Skinny,' I says, 'amble over to the bettin' shed 'n' watch what the
ole man does. As soon as he's got his kale down, beat it back here on
the jump, 'n' tell me how much he gets on 'n' what the odds