Well, this Johnny we kept dark, and all the men at my station saved their money and formulated plans to get a bit of their own back, as they all had lost heavily at the last sports, and they meant this time to plunder the Amalekites. The man who was first favourite for the hundred yards and the quarter of a mile was a very smart young Australian who had run in good company over in Victoria. He had won both events at the last contest and as he, as well as two or three others, had beaten me easily then, and as all hands fancied I was still the best man at my station, the foot gangers thought we could have no chance, and were ready to plank their bottom dollar against our winning a single event. The long-looked-for Christmas Day at length arrived, and as the Hau Haus were quiet all the men who could be spared from garrisoning the forts gathered together at headquarters. Now, the rule was that only two men from each station should enter for each separate event, so that when myself and Bright entered for the hundred yards, quarter of a mile and high jump it was considered our chance was nil, long odds being wagered against us. In fact Bright’s slouching wooden appearance caused unbounded merriment with much rough banter. The troopers, so as not to spoil the market, had deputed one of their number, who was supposed to possess great acumen and almost Satanic finesse, to transact the wagering business on their behalf, those of them being present strolling about bewailing their station’s lack of chance, and the wily one received very long odds against our winning a single event, being so cute that he filled his book before the sports started. The hundred yards race was the first on the programme, for which event ten competitors toed the mark, and there was much chaff at the clumsy way Bright took his place. The pistol was fired, and we jumped off, Bright, of course, last of all, but before the ruck in which I was had covered thirty yards he rushed past us like an express engine, and at seventy-five yards had overhauled the leading man and challenged the young Australian, Duff, who, running first and thinking himself quite safe, was saving himself as much as possible for his other races. In a flash Bright took the lead from him and, to the unbounded astonishment of all hands, breasted the tape quite three yards clear in advance of Duff, who, when he had recovered from his amazement sufficiently to speak, ejaculated the word “D--n!” Of course the footsloggers all swore it was a fluke and tried to account for their champion’s defeat in various ways, with much vivid language, while Duff allowed he had been caught napping, and asserted that before such a thing should occur again he would jolly well go to--well, a warmer climate than even that of Australia--and that in the quarter of a mile he would make the ruddy dough-puncher long to immolate himself in his own blasted oven.