east; the adjoining
stables loomed dark in the half light; here and there lanterns moved,
and close at hand rose the wail of a sleepy exercise boy, roused from
slumber by a liberal application of rawhide. From the direction of
the track came the muffled beat of hoofs, swelling to a crescendo,
and diminishing to a thin tattoo as the thoroughbreds rounded the
upper turn.

Old Man Curry squared his shoulders, turned his face toward the east,
and saluted the dawn in characteristic fashion.

"'A time to get and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to cast
away,'" he quoted. "Solomon was framin' up a system for hossmen, I
reckon. 'A time to get and a time to lose.' Only thing is, Solomon
himself couldn't figure which was which with some of these rascals!
_Oh, Mose!_"

"Yessuh, boss! Comin'!"

Jockey Moseby Jones emerged from the tackle-room, rubbing his eyes
with one hand and tugging at his sweater with the other. Later in the
day he would be a butterfly of fashion and an offence to the eye in
loud checks and conflicting colours; now he was only a very sleepy
little darky in a dingy red sweater and disreputable trousers.

"Seem like to me I ain't had no sleep a-a-a-tall," complained Mose,
swallowing a tremendous yawn. "This yer night work sutny got me goin'
south for fair."

Shanghai, the hostler, appeared leading Elisha, the star of the Curry
barn.

"Send him the full distance, Mose," said the aged owner, "and set him
down hard for the half-mile pole home."

"_Hard_, boss?"

"As hard as he can go."

"But, boss----" There was a note of strong protest in the jockey's
voice.

"You heard me," said Old Man Curry, already striding in the direction
of the track. "Extend him and let's see what he's got."

"Extend him so's _eve'ybody_ kin see whut he's got!" mumbled Mose
rebelliously. "Huh!"

In the shadow of the paddock Old Man Curry came upon his friend, the
Bald-faced Kid, a youth of many failings, frankly confessed. The Kid
sat upon the fence, nursing an old-fashioned silver stop watch, for
he was "clocking" the morning workouts.

"Morning, Frank," said Old Man Curry. "You're early."

"But not early enough for some of these birds," responded the Kid.
"You galloping something, old-timer?"

"'Lisha'll work in a minute or two."

"Uh-huh. I kind of figured you'd throw another work into him before
to-morrow's race. Confound it! If I didn't know you pretty well, I'd
say you ought to have your head examined