THE DEAD HEAT.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 141, 20 October 1870, Page 7

THE DEAD HEAT.

By Old Calabar.

(From "Baily's Magazine.") IN TWO CHAPTERS, — CHAPTER 11. (Continued from our last). THE BAOE. "By jingo, it is a twister !" said Mr. Gwynne, a hunting man, as he looked at it. " I say, Alley, to his daughter, " you would not like to ride over that, would you ?" " No, indeed, papa," said the poor girl, with her beautiful eyes full of tears — she was terribly agitated. " I never shall be able to look at Charles as he jumps it; it is fearful to look at it, and it has to be done twice too !" " Never mind, Alice, dear," said Forstescue, " the old horse will carry me over like a bird. The only difficulty in the whole thing is the big wall, that is a rattler ! but your colours, I think, 1 shall swing to the force. Let me get over that wall and I am pretty safe, for I know Screwdriver haa the foot of Mad Moll ; aad these colours,' too ; they must not play second fiddle. Cheer up !" and he whispered something that made the fair girl smile through her tears. "Now, Forteseue," said G-eorge Bradon, taking his friend aside, " let me give you a little advice ; this your maiden effort ; whatever you do be cool ; don't flurry or worry yourself ; you have a knowing fellow to ride against, and one well up to these things. Now the wall is the principal thing, and my opinion is, he will try and baulk your horse there ; therefore, my boy, don't let him give you a lead over it, but lead him. That you have the speed of the mare there is not a doubt. Kemeinber, too, you must not go at the wall too fast ; keep him well together, with his hind legs well under him, and pop him over. Now, with regard to the brook, on no account give him a lead there ; if necessary, walk your horse to it rather than go first. Keep you head, old fellow, and where you dare, make the pace a cracker, but don't pump him ; the mare is overtrained, and will not last if she is bustled. I don't know that I can say any more ; now go and sit by your lady fair till it is all ready for you and time to weigh." The officers had sent their two cricket tents down, the scoring one for the scales, and the other for luncheon. The latter one was filled with gentlemen discussing the different merits of the different horses, " Here comes your nag, Fortescue," said a young sub, running up to the carriage. " Oh, what a beautiful creature !" said Miss G-wynne. "Who is the little fat man leading him ?" That," said Bradon, who had joined them, "is my old stud-groom, one of the best hands in Europe; he says Screwdriver's condition is capital. Here, Mason, turn the horse and show him to the lady." The old man touched his hat as he did so. "He's a good f un, Miss," he said, " and nothing but a good 'un, and if Mr. Fortescue rides him patiently, dash my waistcoat buttons if I think the mare will have a chance with him." And touching his hat again, he turned and walked away. The mob could see little of the horse, clothed up as he was, and surrounded by the men of the — th,. The weighing is over, and Screwdriver mounted. Fortescue's colours are crimson, with gold braiding ; Capt. O'Eooney's all green. Both geutlemen look thorough jocks, and sit their horses easily and well ; but there is a look of the older hand about the Captain. " Who will lay me two to one against Screwdriver ?" cried out a sly-looking little man in a large drab overcoat. I'll do it to any amountuptoathousand. " I'll take you even money for a hundred," said a flashily-dressed man on a bay horse. " I want odds, sir," said the little man ; " but as I see there's no betting to be done here, make ib two hundred and I'll take you." j " Done," said the other. And the i bets were booked. All was now excitement, for the horses are walking away to the start-ing-post. The judge had locked himself up in' the little box allotted to him, j which had been lent by the race committee, but little did he think he would see such a close finish. " They're off !" is the cry, as the two horses are seen cantering across a field. "Forteacue's leading," said Lord Plunger, with his field-glasses to his eyes. " Oh, papa, hold me up, that I may look," said the beautiful and anxious Miss Grwynne. The eyes of scores were on her as she stood up, for all the gentry were well aware in what relation she stood to Fortescue. " Well jumped, indeed," roared the multitude, as the horses topped a wall. " Capital jumpers both," said the sly r looking little man ; " the hor&e for my money. Will nobody bet?" he roared out. But all were too eager to attend to him. Fortescue is in front, and going at a good rate across some grass. The first brook as now approached, and the Captain in his turn leads at a strong pace. All are anxiously looking to see how Mad Moll will like it, for she is twisting her head from side to side.

Fortescue has taken a pull at Screwdriver, who is some six lenjjtl.s behind. " iiang me if she means jumping!" said Bradon, as he saw the marc's twisty movements. But he was wrong; a resolute man and a good hand was on her back. She jumped the brook, but in a bad style, her hind legs dropped in ; and as she just righted herself Fortescue's crimson jacket flashed in the air and cleared it splendidly, amidst the shouts of hundreds. "Splendidly jumped!" said Lord Plunger. " Fortescue is a fine horseman, Bradon, and is riding the horse right patiently and well. " He is," was the quiet reply. All eyes are directed to the wall, towards which the horses are now approaching. Fortescue is seen to lead at it, and the old horse clears it at a bound, as did the mare. "It's all up," said Bradon, as he closed his glasses ; " Fortescue will win in a canter." " The Captain's down !" screamed a host of voices, as he and the mare came to grief at the second water-jump. " May he stick there for the next ten minutes," muttered the sly little man ; a wish in which not a few joined — a certain fair lady especially. Bnt he is up and at work again, none the worse. The horses were going at a great pace, and the jumps were taken with beautiful precision by both" Bradon began to look anxious, the sly little man fidgetty, and Lord Plunger wore a thoughtful look. The anxious girl's face was flushed to scarlet with excitement and emotion, and she trembled fearfully. " It will be a close thing," said the sly -looking little man ; " the mare is better than I thought." There were only a few things to be jumped now of any consequence — the two brooks and the big wall. The horses there turned, ran through an opening made in the wall, and finished on the flat in front of the carriages. The brook is now approached for the second time -. the mare comes at it first, jumps it and topples down on her nose on the opposite side ; the Captain is pitched forward on her ears, but recovers himself like li^htnin<>;, and is away again, leading Fortescue at a terrific pace. But what is the sly little man doing ? As the mare recovers he: self he is seen to dart across the course and pick up somthing flat and put it into his pocket. "By G — d! turn out as it will we are saved," he muttered." I'll lay any money against the mare," he screamed out. But no one took him. The wall is now approached again ; the Captain leads ; as the mare is about to rise at it he turns her sharply round and gallops in a different direction. Screwdriver refuses it too. 1 "Damnation! I thought it," said Bradon ; " there's blackguard's trick !" " Oh ! poor Charles," calculated the beautiful Alice ; " my poor colours !" " The Captain's cleared it !" shouted out no end of voices. " Sure its myself said the Captain could never be licked." • " Most unfortunate !" said the old Colonel ; " a dirty trick and after my kindness to him, too !" "Fortescue is going at it again!" cried the people ; and the horse is seen to rise gallantly at it, but both horse and rider came down on the other side. " Och, wirra wirra yo yo ! Mother of Moses, he's kilt entirely !" bawled out a countryman; "poor young fellow!" " Miss Gfwynne's fainted," said a young sub, rushing into the tent for water. "By Gf — d ! he's up and at it again,' screamed the sly little man. "The mare's baked, too ; look at her tail." All faces were flushed and eager. The horse was coming along at a tremendous pace. The captain was at work ; his legs could be seen sending the spurs deeply into her ; and he took an anxious look over his shoulder every now and then. " The mare's beaten ! resounded on all sides, as she was seen to swerve in her striae. " Oh, that the finish were only a hundred yards further !" said Lord Plunger. The winning-post is approached. ; The old horse has not been touched by Fortescue, whose face is seen, even | at that distance, deluged with blood. He holds Screwdriver well in hand ; | he sees' the mare is flagging. I " Green wins !" Red wins !" shouts the crowd. It is an anxious moment. Both horses are seen locked closely together. But the strain on Screwdriver's jaw is relaxed, and Fortescue is seen to [ shake him ; the whip hand is at work, ! and they pass the post abreast. The old Colonel dashes off, as does the sly I little man, and a host of others. "How is it!" said the Colonel, as he galloped up. " A dead heat," replied the judge. The sly little man smiles grimly as he hears these words. "Is Charles hurt, papa?" said the beautiful occupant of the master of Gwynne's carriage, opening her eyes languidly, as she rose from her faint. " No, dearest : cut a little, I believe. It is a dead heat." Both horses were now returning to scale. "Dead heat ?" said the Captain. " Well, we must run it ofT in an hour. I won't give in." • " Hurt, sir? inquired- old Mason, as

he took hold of the horse's bridle, and led him back. " A bit of a cut on the forehead," returned Fortescue. " that ia all. Capt. O'Eooney turned his horse at the wall — most unhandsome and ungentlemanly !" " A scoundrel's trick," said the Colonel. Fortescue is gone to weigh first. " All right, siT," said the man in the charge of the scales. The Captain now approaches, saddle and saddle-clothes in hand, and seats himself. "Eleven stone eleven," said he of the scales, looking at them intentely. •'Three pounds short, Captain." "What?" yelled out O'Eooney. " Look again, man, look again!" " Eleven stone eleven," replied the clerk. " Give me my briddle !" roard the Captain. "What the h— ll is the matter ?" " Ah, give him his briddle, " said the sly looking little man ; "he can claim a pound for it but that won't make him right. Look at your saddle. cloth, sir. You will see it has burst and a three-pound lead gone. Tou did it at the big water-jump the second time, and I picked it up Here it is." Cheer after cheer rent the air as the fact was announced. The soldiers of the — th were mad. " Here come away," said Lord Plunger and Bradon, seizing Charles's arm. "Get away as quickly as you can. There will be a row. Your horse has already gone, with seventy or eighty of — th with him. You rode the race splendidly, old fellow !" " That he did," said the sly-looking little man. " That's what I always tell them — in racing or betting always come with a rush." It was quite true. The Captain had lost the race. He was short by two pounds, allowing him one for his bridle. The scene of confusion that followed was indescribable. Fovtescue was taken to the carriage and quickly driven away. "Ah, Alice!" said he, "I told you I should carry your colours to the force." " Thank God you did so ! This is your first and last race, promise me." The Captain went back to Cloughbally, More Castle ; but in a day or two he w-is non est inveiUus, and his creditors done. The — th had a jovial night of it. Fortoseue's health was drunk in bumper after bumper ; but he was not there to acknowledge the compliment ; some one else had him in charge: A short time after the — th were quartered in Manchester, and the old Col. one day encountered no less a person than Capt. O'Rooney. " See, now, Colonel," said the latter, " you must bear me no ill-will. I did a shabby trick, I'll allow, at the wall, but I was a ruined man. I'm all right now. I've married a rich cotton-spin-ner's widow, of some £3,000 a year but it's all settled on her." Fortescue and Miss Gfwynne are long ago married ; and at the different race meetings that they attended they often saw the celebrated Capt. O'Rooney performing ; but in all the numerous races he was engaged in he never rode — at any rate in a steeplechase — another dead heat.