, and
Old Man Curry visited each one of them several times. He stopped
betting only when he heard the saddling bell ringing in the paddock.
After a few words with Little Mose, he returned to the betting ring
and the distribution of his favours.

When the five horses stood at the barrier in front of the grand
stand, Pharaoh was conspicuous only for his size and the colour of
his rider. The mare Auckland, beautifully proportioned, her smooth
coat glistening in the sun, was the ideal racing animal.

The word was soon given, the barrier whizzed into the air, and the
five horses were on their long journey. The boy on Auckland sent her
to the front at once, and the mare settled into her long, easy
stride, close to the rail, saving every possible inch. Pharaoh
immediately dropped into last position, plodding through the dust
kicked up by the field. The big hammer-head showed nothing in the
first mile save dogged persistence. At the end of the second mile
Auckland was twenty lengths in front of Pharaoh, and running without
effort. The Maori and Ambrose Churchill were beginning to drop back,
but Baron Brant still clung to second place, ten lengths behind the
favourite.

It was in the third mile that Jockey Moseby Jones began to urge the
big horse. At first there seemed to be no result, but gradually,
almost imperceptibly, the heavy plugging stride grew longer. Auckland
still held her commanding lead, but Pharaoh marked his gain on
Ambrose Churchill and The Maori, leaving them a bitter and hopeless
battle for fourth place. In the home stretch the pace began to tell
on Baron Brant, and he faded. Pharaoh caught and passed him just at
the wire, with the Australian mare fifteen lengths in front and
eating up the distance in smooth, easy strides.

The stubborn persistence of the hammer-headed horse had not escaped
the crowd, and those who support the underdog in an uphill fight gave
him a tremendous cheer as he swung down to the turn. It was then that
Little Mose leaned forward and began hand-riding, calling on Pharaoh
in language sacred and profane.

"Hump yo'self, big hawss! Neveh let it be said that a mare kin make
you eat dust! Lay down to it, Faro, lay down to it! Why, you ain't
begun to run yit! You jus' been foolin'! You want to show me up befo'
a big town crowd! Faro, I ast you from my _heart_, lay down to it!"

And Pharaoh lay down to it. The ugly big brute let himself out to the
last notch, hugging the rail with long