On Our Selection

Old

listening attitude, and brandished a table-fork. There were mice-mobs of them-between the slabs and the paper-layers of newspapers that had been pasted o

-place-Dave at the other with his elbows on

d ride a race,

ff the fire, or his chin from his palms-"could, I

hey ref

form of a murdered mouse and invited th

r Mother's

Dave spat i

with the old mare; it's worth trying for, and, believe me,

l right." And Dave sp

d Redwood owned her, there was n't a horse in the district could come within coo-ee of her. All she

the principal event was five pounds. It was n't because Dad was a racing man or subject to turf hallucinations in any way that he thought of preparing Bess for the meeting. We sa

ery other dog in the neighbourhood. Not that she had any brumby element in her-she would have been easier to yard if she had-but she would drive steadily enough, alone or with other horses, until she saw the yard, when she would turn and deliberately walk away. If we walked to head her she beat us by half a length; i

trim her up a bit. He pulled her tail and cut the hair off her heels with a knife; then he gave her some corn to eat, and told Joe he was to ha

ok at the shoulder on her, and the loin she has; and where did ever you see

spect; hitherto we had been accustomed t

the size of a foal's foot. She had had that sore for upwards of ten years to our knowledge, but Dad hoped to

g gully, and we would see nothing more of the gallop till he came to within a hundred yards of us. And would n't Bess bend to it once she got up the hill, and fly past with Dave in the stirrups watching her shadow!-when there was o

nd. Dave took her to the crossing at the creek-supposed to be three miles from Shingle Hut, b

. Tommy Wilkie came along ridin

d go and wait in the gully and race Dave home. "Race him home!" Dad chuckled, a

oundering. There was about two hundred yards yet to cover. Dave kept at her-THUD! THUD! Slower and slower she came. "Damn the fellow!" Dad said; "what's he beating her for?" "Stop it, you fool!" he shouted. But Dave sat down on her for the final effort and applied the hide faster and faster. Dad crunched his teeth. Once-twice-three times Bess changed her stride, then struck a bra

on Mother's elastic-side boots, decided to ride in his own heavy bluchers. We went with Dad in the dray. Mother would n't go; she

shanty-keeper unpacking gingerbeer. Joe asked Dad for sixpence to buy some, but Dad had n't any small change. We remained in front of the booth thro

d Dad, saddle on arm, advanced to where Dave was walking Bess a

ese boots a bit," he said,

with 'em?"

too big a

ake 'em

d pulled them off-l

y opposite to what Dad had told him. In the first furlong she put fully twenty yards of daylight between herself and the field-she came after the field. At the

ey had cheered the winner, Da

hausted. "Ain't y' goin' to pu

You don't want everyone

d he had

ring along arm-in-arm with another man-a

hat and striking Bess on the rump wi

at her, but did n't sa

h'ain't? L'ere-ever y' na

wd gathered round, and Dave wis

ithout whiskers shoved his face up into Dad's and asked him if Bess was a mare or a cow. Dad beca

the dray and drove i

d. He says, further, that an honest man, by training and racing a horse, is o