The International Monthly, Volume 4, No. 1, August, 1851Various
History
The International Monthly, Volume 4, No. 1, August, 1851
Various
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- History -- Periodicals
Some forty seconds more elapse; a period of time that goes like a
flash when you are training your own flier, or "brushing" on the road,
but seems long enough when you are waiting for horses to come round,
and then they appear once more coming home. The mare is still leading,
with her beautiful, steady, unfaltering stroke; but she is by no means
so fresh-looking as when she started; many a dark line of sweat marks
her white hide. Close behind her comes Trustee; the half-length gap
has disappeared, and his nose is ready to touch Bryan's jacket. There
is hardly a wet hair discernible on him; he goes perfectly at his
ease, and seems to be in hand. "He has her now," is the general
exclamation, "and can pass her when he pleases." As the mare crosses
the score, (in 2´ 34´´, according to Edwards's stop-watch,) Bryan
"looks over his left shoulder," like the knights in old ballads, and
becomes aware for the first time that the horse at his wheel is not
Pelham, as he had supposed, but Trustee.
The old fellow is another man. His air of careless security has
changed to one of intense excitement. Slash! slash! slash! falls the
long whip, with half a dozen frantic cuts and an appropriate garnish
of yells. Almost any other trotter would go off in a run at one such
salute, to say nothing of five or six; but the old mare, who "has no
break in her," merely understands them as gentle intimations to go
faster--and she does go faster. How her legs double up, and what a
rush she has made! There is a gap of three lengths between her and
Trustee. He never hurries himself, but goes on steadily as ever. See,
as he passes, how he straddles behind like an old cow, and yet how
dexterously he paddles himself along, as it were, with one hind foot.
What a mixture of ugliness and efficiency his action is! At the first
quarter the Lady has come back to him. Three times during this, the
last and decisive mile, is the performance repeated. You may hear
Bryan's voice and whip completely across the course, as he hurries his
mare away from the pursuer; but each succeeding time the temporary gap
is shorter and sooner closed.
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