The Life of Hon. William F. Cody | Page 7

to run away when taking part in a race.
The stranger seemed to be very frank in his statements, and appeared to
be very anxious to get rid of the animal, and as we were going to
Kansas where there would be plenty of room for the horse to run as far
as he pleased, father concluded to make a trade for him; so an exchange
of animals was easily and satisfactorily effected.
The new horse being a small gray, we named him "Little Gray."
An opportunity of testing the racing qualities of the horse was soon
afforded. One day we drove into a small Missouri town or hamlet
which lay on our route, where the farmers from the surrounding
country were congregated for the purpose of having a holiday--the
principal amusement being horse-racing. Father had no trouble in
arranging a race for Little Gray, and selected one of his teamsters to

ride him.
The Missourians matched their fastest horse against him and were
confident of cleaning out "the emigrant," as they called father. They
were a hard looking crowd. They wore their pantaloons in their boots;
their hair was long, bushy and untrimmed; their faces had evidently
never made the acquaintance of a razor. They seemed determined to
win the race by fair means or foul. They did a great deal of swearing,
and swaggered about in rather a ruffianly style.
All these incidents attracted my attention--everything being new to
me--and became firmly impressed upon my memory. My father, being
unaccustomed to the ways of such rough people, acted very cautiously;
and as they were all very anxious to bet on their own horse, he could
not be induced to wager a very large sum on Little Gray, as he was
afraid of foul play.
"Wa-al, now, stranger," exclaimed one of the crowd, "what kind o'
critter have you got anyhow, as how you're afraid to back him up very
heavy?"
"I'll bet five to one agin the emergrant's, gray," said another.
"I'm betting the same way. I'll go yer five hundred dollars agin a
hundred that the gray nag gits left behind. Do I hear any man who
wants to come agin me on them yer terms?" shouted still another.
"Hi! yer boys, give the stranger a chance. Don't scare him out of his
boots," said a man who evidently was afraid that my father might back
out.
Father had but little to say, however, and would not venture more than
fifty dollars on the result of the race.
"Gentlemen, I am only racing my horse for sport," said he, "and am
only betting enough to make it interesting. I have never seen Little
Gray run, and therefore don't know what he can do;" at the same time
he was confident that his horse would come in the winner, as he had

chosen an excellent rider for him.
Finally all the preliminaries of the contest were arranged. The judges
were chosen and the money was deposited in the hands of a
stake-holder. The race was to be a single dash, of a mile. The horses
were brought side by side and mounted by their riders.
At the signal--"One, two, three, go!"--off they started like a flash. The
Missouri horse took the lead for the first quarter of a mile; at the
half-mile, however, he began to weaken. The Missourians shouted
themselves hoarse in urging their horse, but all to no avail. The Little
Gray passed him and continued to leave him farther and farther behind,
easily winning the race.
The affair created a great deal of enthusiasm; but the race was
conducted with honor and fairness, which was quite an agreeable
surprise to my father, who soon found the Missourians to be at heart
very clever men--thus showing that outside appearances are sometimes
very deceptive; they nearly all came up and congratulated him on his
success, asked him why he had not bet more money on the race, and
wanted to buy Little Gray.
"Gentlemen," said he, "when I drove up here and arranged for this race,
I felt confident that my horse would win it. I was among entire
strangers, and therefore I only bet a small amount. I was afraid that you
would cheat me in some way or other. I see now that I was mistaken, as
I have found you to be honorable men."
"Wa-all, you could have broke me" said the man who wanted to bet the
five hundred dollars to one hundred, "for that there nag o' yourn looks
no more like a runner nor I do."
During our stay in the place they treated us very kindly, and continued
to try to purchase Little Gray. My father, however, remained firm in his
determination not to part with him.
The next place of interest