Northrop Collegiate School (Minneapolis, Minn.) -- Students -- Yearbooks; Schools -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis -- Students -- Yearbooks
Long after the one-thirty special night train had whistled at the
Downs crossing, a dark figure could be seen sliding along the stall
doors--"Ten--Nine--; Eight--" Then it came to halt before Stall No. 7,
and slipped through the door. It felt in the dark for the blanketed
horse's neck. The horse jumped as a dagger-like needle was thrust into
its neck. The colored boy, in a drugged sleep at the door of the
stall, stirred in his dreams, but was still again. The door opened
quietly, and the figure slipped out, leaving the horse in No. 7
leaning drunkenly against the side wall. A shaft of moonlight fell
across the intruder's face, revealing the same man who had attended
all of Dixie's trial gallops. Little did this unscrupulous person
realize that the black mare was spending the night in an old deserted
barn near the race track, guarded by an old gentleman whose mouth was
twisted into a whimsical smile, while a "guaranteed-to-be-gentle"
livery horse was leading a life of luxury that evening in Stall No. 7,
Churchill Downs.
Derby day at Churchill Downs! Kentucky was doing homage to the
thoroughbred. As the band played "Dixie," the Derby entries filed
through the paddock onto the field. Proudly leading the string of the
country's best two year olds, was the song's namesake, a true daughter
of the South. With arching neck and prancing feet, Dixie, the pride of
an old man's heart, took her place at the barrier. Her jockey looked
up as he passed an aristocratic old gentleman, dressed in a faded coat
which reminded one of "befoah de Wah" days and whose hat remained off
while the horses passed.
The barrier was up, and the roar shook the grandstand. "They're off!!"
The favorite, Vixen, shot ahead and seemed to be making a runaway
race. Cheer after cheer rent the air. An old man clasped his program a
little tighter and breathed a prayer. Around the turn came Vixen, but
not alone. Crouched to the ground, a small black horse crept up to the
flying tail of the favorite. Down the stretch the two thundered,
fighting for supremacy. "Foah Kentucky, Dixie, and the honah of the
purple and white!" As if she heard this plea from her master, Dixie
bent lower. Then, her black nose thrust ahead, more than a length in
advance of Vixen, she flashed under the wire, bringing "honah" to the
purple and white.
NANCY STEVENSON, '26.
MY BUREAU DRAWERS
My bureau drawers,--I wonder what their contents could tell! Whenever
I go through them with the firm resolve to clear out everything that I
do not actually use, I always end by saving some things just for the
sake of the memories connected with them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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