Horse racing -- Fiction; Thoroughbred horse -- Fiction
"I figgers this Harry Evans is sure ridin' a threshin'-machine with its
insides loose, but when he comes through the gates I gets a shock.
Say,--his machine ain't much bigger'n a good-sized sardine can! It's
painted red 'n' smoke's comin' out of the front of it. I can roll
faster'n it's movin', but it keeps a-shakin' so he can't hardly set in
the seat.
"When it's pretty close I see he's a little guy with specs 'n' a yellow
coat on, but he's bein' shook so I can't hardly see what he does look
like.
"'How-dee-do!' he says, when he gets her stopped. 'Er,--it occurs to
me that I may be a little late. . . . Will any of you gentlemen
indulge in a Cuban Beauty?' He fishes some long black stogies out of
his pocket, but they don't nobody go against 'em, except him--he lights
one.
"Then the crowd shows him the locked stalls 'n' everybody takes a shot
at tellin' him what ought to be did.
"'Er,--it occurs to me,' says this Harry Evans, 'that there is a simple
way out of the--er--difficulty.'
"'There's class to him,' says Peewee.
"'How's that?' says some one in the crowd.
"'If Colonel Hunter here will tender me--er--eighty-six dollars in
behalf of my client,' says Harry Evans, 'I'll instruct my client to
unlock the stalls.'
"'There you are!' says Peewee.
"The big Jasper lets out a fierce roar.
"'Not by a damn sight!' says he. 'We leased these grounds with the
full use an' privilege of all buildin's an' other fixtures an'
appurtenances fur the purpose of holdin' a fair. We weren't aimin' to
get skinned out of eighty-six dollars by no lumber concern, 'n' we
ain't a-goin' to neither!'
"'Let's see your lease?' says Harry Evans.
"'It's back in town at my office,' says the old Jasper.
"'Who signed it?' says Harry Evans.
"'Judge Tate signed it,' says the old Jasper.
"'Er,--if that's the case,' says Harry Evans, 'get him out here. He's
receiver for the Park Company and you can make him pay this claim.'
"The whole bunch says that's a good idea. So they tell Orphy to go in
'n' get this Judge Tate.
"'I got to go 'n' tell Butsy there's a judge comin'!' says Peewee.
"'Butsy's sore about somethin',' he says when he gets back.
"This Judge Tate unloads hisself from the car when Orphy brings him,
like he's the most important piece of work fur miles around. He has
little side-whiskers 'n' a bay-window with a big gold chain stretched
across it. He holds a umbrella over hisself with one hand 'n' wiggles
the watch-chain with the other.
"'Ahem--gentlemen, what can I do for you?' he says.
"'Something doing now!' says Peewee to me. 'This is God-a'mighty's
right-hand man!'
"'Er--Judge,' says Harry Evans, 'we are having a dispute concerning
certain buildings on these premises, and--er--it occurred to me you
could settle the matter.'
"'Settle is the word,' says Peewee to me.
"'As receiver for the Park Company, Judge,' says Harry Evans, 'can you
tell us--er--who the buildings on these premises belong to?'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account