:
DON'T WONDER ABOUT IT
f
But friends, so I forget,
Forgive them for their ill
I know that they'll be sorry yet,
The sun will climb the hill,
When for a while
Life fails to smile,
Don't wonder if it will.
—1930, Douglas Malloch.
AAP ——
DOG MEAT
It had never occurred to Timothy
J. Donovan that some day he would
be old, out of a job and unable to
secure another. That was an ex-
perience he faced the day the winter
meeting at Tanforan Park closed,
for in the last race the last horse
owned by the men whom he had
been rubbing horses for a year had
been claimed.
Most of his late owner's bank ac-
count and all of Timothy J. Dono-
van's had departed simultaneously;
they had played the horse for a
killing and bet it all on his nose.
And that nose was a foot behind that
of another horse as the field swept
under the wire.
When the horses came back to the
scales so the jockeys could weigh in
after the race, Timothy J. was there
to receive the horse, blanket him,
lead him back to the stable and cool
him out. From the little balcony
around the glass pagoda where the
judges sat, the presiding judge
spoke to Timothy J.
“Wait a minute with him, Tim.
He's been claimed. Maybe his own-
er will bid him up and get him back
again.”
But his owner had no money where-
with to do that, so presently Tim-
othy J. handed the halter shank to
the new owner's swipe and went
back to the stable to get his pos-
sessions together and wait for the
boss to pay him off. Presently the
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them in the ”
J's horse-loving heart was
i
(all sinew and scant muscle without two dollars left in all this cold, hard, and
‘a horse. Thank hivin there's no’
dred
latter came, a little sadly, and hand-
ed him twenty dollars.
“All washed up, Tim,” he said.
“Put the tack in the tack chest and
then sit on the chest for an hour or
two. By that time I'll have an ex-
press truck here to take it to stor-
age in San Francisco. Good-by,
g
load their stock on
only after a switch engin
the last carload of thoroughbreds
down the line did it dawn upon Tim-
othey J. Donovan that he was one
of the army of the unemployed, with
twenty dollars between him and the
poorhouse. Only then did he re-
member, with a mental shudder, that
he was sixty-eight years old, stiff in
his joints, deliberate in his move-
ments, a bit cantankerous and “sot”
use he had
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a
wouldn't mention the matter.
The next meeting, he reflected,
was the -vinter meeting at Agua
Caliente, down in Baja, California.
It opened the day Christmas
for eighty-five days of , and
Timothy J. knew could but
get to Agua Caliente, he would find
free lodging in somebody's tack
room. His main necessity was to
get under shelter quickly; food was
consideration.
a sec
Da tion
o . an
hee his EE Out
on a Camino a Sumared auto-
mobiles unheeding signals
for a ride, but finally a man in an
imported roadster cked him up.
This man informed y J. Don-
ovan that he was headed for Mod-
esto, in San Joaquin valley, and as
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one of the highways to Mexico leads j coming dog ration.
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“Some pretty good draft horses
them,” Timothy J.'s host ex-
“They're just worn out and
underfed, but give them a winter's
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spring
“Ain't they a sorry lot!” Timoth
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The lame, the halt and the blind terhouse whilst
were there, together with a fair save her? Oh, poor colleen
sprinkling of wild broom-tails that was the best two-year-old filly
been captured on the Nevada America—an’ that hard-hearted
and Utah deserts. Long-haired, Toothaker would sind her to a
heavy-hocked, fiddle headed old shameful death!”
horses that looked like caricatures, “And after buying her to save her
saddle-galled and collar-galled nags from a shameful death, you have’
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fat, they grazed on the winter her- jobless world?"
bage or nibbled pathetically at some Timothy J. nodded. :
straw fit only for bedding. | “And you're headed for Agua
“ "ris a horrible fate to come toa Caliente to find a job rubbing horses,
good honest horse, or a mule or a I believe you told me?”
donkey, be the same tokin,” Timothy “That's right, sor.”
J. declared. “'Tis enough to bring “How old are you?"
tears to the eyes o' him that loves “Sixty-eight, God help me.”
“You're the most amazing man I
thoroughbred amongst thim."” have ever met. Only the Irish can
“Range horses and draft animals do crazy things and be loved for it
are so cheap and plentiful now it What's your name?”
doesn't pay to breed that sort of “Timothy J. Donovan, sor.”
horse any more,” his host stated. “Tim, you're a lunatic, but I un-
“A great many of the horses you derstand you. I haven't the heart to
see yonder are veterans of the day abandon you and that mare. If
before motor trucks displaced the you had some money, what would
draft horse. They sell for five dol- you do with her?”
lars a head, and I imagine the can- “Well, now,’ ‘'quoth Timothy J.
people make at least two hun- Donovan, “the first thing I'd want
percent profit.” would be a nice paddock wit' a bit
Timothy J. sighed. ‘“Many’'s the o' green grass in it. Thin I'd give!
dollar I've seen spint on stone mon- the mare a dose o' linseed ile an’
umints over the graves of horses. turpentine to clane out o' her any
Sure, afther all, 'tis only the min worms she might be carryin’ unbe-
that know thoroughbreds that can knownst. An’ I'd take her shoes
really be said to love a horse. I'll off an 'let her feet grow. I'd want,
warrant ye niver a bit o’ blood stock a night sheet for her an’ a good
finds its way to that horse purga- tight box wit’ good clane beddin,’ an
thory.” good short California oat hay an’
Ten miles up the road Timothy's some crushed oats an’ a ~dozen |
host pulled his gorgeous roadster off sacks o' carrots an’ some bran. I'd
the highway to permit a herd of shtart workin’ her in the early
some two hundred old horses to be y
driven by. “More dog mate, is it?" “She should have three months’
Timothy J. asked one of the herds- rest. Whin I had her ready I'd take
men. her to the spring meetin’ at Tan-
The latter nodded. “We've been foran Park an’ lay till I found a
picking them up alr over the San spot for her an’ win a race atlong
oaquin ” odds.”
“Ah- ! "Tis a fine job ye've pick- “You know this mare?”
ed out for yerself, young man. I'd: “Sure I rubbed her for two year
be hungrier nor a wolf before I'd— till she was claimed on me boss an’
glory be to hivin, there's a thorough- afther that I lost track o' her, the
bred if iver I saw one. Here, young poor darlin’, ”
man, hold up a bit, whilst I look at “Is she fast?”
that mare.” “She can do a mile but 'tis in six. |
Timothy J. was out of the car, fvlong dashes she has the best
threading his way among the equine chanc't. Is she fast? says you.
pilgrims to a dark brown mare. As Glory be, she breezes faster nor
he came toward her ping his most horses race.”
fingers she , lool at him “Then why did the
and nic friendly welcome; Ben Toothaker think so little
then her sleek, beautiful small head he sold her for dog meat?”
came out and her fragrant lips nib-, Timothy J. Donovan sighed deeply.
bled at his nose. “The wurrld do be filled with more
“Arrah, many's the time ye've wild asses than horses, sor. The
shtuck that lovely head out of a |jttle mare do have a weakness.
box, darlin,’ an' nibbled love to the She's afraid o' horses. She's too
lad that rubbed ye” Timothy J. timid to crowd her way through at
breathed, and ran his practiced hand the beginning’ of a race, but :
down over the mare's legs. “Flat pack, afraid o' the o' thim. |
bone an’ not a blemish on her. Will That is, savin 'an’ unless she's away
ye look at that beautiful short can- first; wamst out in front o ‘the field
non bone to take up the shocks 0' ghe'll run like the divil was afther
her |
| white-washed in the oid Mission tra- his selling price.
‘holding two bridles and
here, not horsemin.”
this mornin.’
i “Not k
2
job with a good boss— did the coit
he confided tothe driver of offered fifty
“At long lasht I'm the Timothy J. begged him to sell.
of a thoroughbred horse o' “Fast he is, sor, but there's too
the bloody royal. Whoop! Huroo! much daylight under him, He'll
Faugh-a-ballagh!”
He was the happiest exile of Erin
in all North America!
Toothaker had spared no nse have ye out o' the red
when he decided to breed thorough- ong.”
breds and race them. His barns and
The overjoyed Toothaker gave
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red, white an’ blue cross pasheat™
He sighed the sigh of the agec
and disillusioned. “I give one 0’ the
assistant shtarters a fifty-dollar bil
break down long before he earns to hold the mare an’ talk to her. D¢
you fifty thousand dollars. An’ what he
Wi wine an’ his sellin’ pHce; TWearin o' the G
La Paloma Stock Farm was new n back o' that ag'in' to what do, she'll not he
expensive! uipped. Mr. Ben We've already sold, I'm thinkin’ Ill shtartin’ gate. The r divil know:
y ink before not one note from Tey but I'n
pet her on the nose an’ sing “Th
reen’ to her, like
boltin’ out o’ the
hopin'—"
“They're off!” The words, half :
stables were built of hollow tile with Timothy J. five percent of the colt's sigh, half a roar, rose from th
red-tile roofs, and were plastered and |
dition. was almost bewildered.
much too good for the class of previous life.
Mr. Donovan decided to have noth-
ing to do with them at all, at all.
winning and a thousand dollars on multitude.
The old swipe seemingly the field broke at onc
He had from the Bahr starting gate—tha
The kitchen, mess hall and sleep- ever had more than a hundred and is, all but one horse.
ing quarters for the employees were ¢/7hty dollars at one time in all his out in front on the ex
Had he been a swipe the field a green jacket and orang:
know-it-all fellows in occupation, so he would have remained around the cap flashed.
track and dribbled it away in bets, foot was leading by
but since he was now a trainer-man- and then the boy brought her ove
It was a perfect start
Two length
treme right o
At the eighth Tangle
six 1
After breakfast Mr. Ben Tooth- ager, he feit that a display of his to within four feet of the rail an
aker came out of his modest hun- 3d ustinets would be beneath his
dred.thousand-dollar al .
Fo tr Sungeiow room So he went back to La Paloma
swearing and worked with his
horribly. “Why, what's wrong with Pec
that equipment, Tim?” the boss de-
manded.
“Nothin’—if they'd only kape it
clane,” Mr. Donovan replied wither-
ingly. “Mark the muck at each
meet he won seven races;
washed an’ sponged after usin.’ two
bo
is ex-cOWhOYS Ye Hust have around |e cation us trainer for the old
night, man who walked out of that track
; the year before with his turkey on
his back.
Timothy J. had won five percent
of the purses and four thousand in
“So I decided during the
You're foreman, Tim, at a hundred
and fifty a month.”
“Thank ye kindly, sor. There'll
be a change around this place, I'm
thinkin." Who's the thrainer, sor?"
“ , entered T: efoot five times, but
put any. Fired him last he had not bet on her, and it was ed.
“Ye have! I'm the thrainer. I've ‘well that he had not, for she never |
been lookin’ for the job for thirty WoS in the money.
year but luck’s been ag'in’ me till
Have ye a track?" |
“A mile training track, Tim.”
“Huroo! ‘Tis grrand insurance.
More yearlin's have been ruint on
half-mile tracks than iver died o
shippin’' fever. What sort o' breedin
shtock have ye got, sor?” .
“Come over to the office and look
at the "
“'Tis as I suspected,” Mr. Dono-
van sighed, following that inspection.
Erne Yer ITE She Pen
ye k
o' the brood mares an’ stallions to
one o' your own kind who'd been
racin' longer an’ thought he knew it
all. Not wishin’ to get caught in
his ignorance. he took counsel wit’ on t.”
his rascally thrainer, who made a Po
pretty nny negotiatin’ sales wit’
other ners an’ gypsy owners enter her in the San Bruno Handi-
for their rubbish. For rubbish is cap, B
what ye've got here”
“Dog meat, eh?" olds and up.
‘““Hivin' forbid, sor, but not race last stake event of the meeting.
horses. Ye might get the money The day before the race Timo
will make your hair stand on your
head. If she'd only race that fast
fortune.”
“She's only a five-year-old.”
“She's only a mornin
what he knew and his was the faith
mountains. “There's nothin’
“Some day Ill get her in a
‘the truck?” he begged the herds- per wit 'a red-hot irom. The Tooth-! back usin’ thim to breed jumpers for J. met the starter as they walked
“Oh, be the toenails o° Moses,
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man. “She's a little thing—almosta asker man did not know what her
. Sure, what a grand type 0' throuble is, an’ she him his
polo pony Dok: mare she! ie She money.
has a chest like a prizefig! ' “ %
He moved aft and looked at her fav lie Sive hor many a Jury.
quarters. foal out o' her
“A big little mare,” he
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declared.
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but here is more horse than appears of expinse, sold her
at first sight an’ I'm thinkin'-—come |
now, Timothy, didn't she
slight rope burrn on her near
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tell’ me where ye picked this mare
up.”
“At La Paloma Stock Farm, near
Merced. Man named Ben Toothaker
sold her to me along with half-
dozen old draft critters.”
“Was I twin
for Mr. Timothy J.
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the horse shows, light hunthers, ye across the infield
know, an’ polo you
“U had begun to t, Tim, that a mare,
I'd had the nub end of a number of ter inquired.
horse trades. I've had eighteen two- “Troth, I am,” Timothy J.
year-olds at various tracks the past with spirit. “An’ why not?”
year and I wasn't in the money “You'll have to pay a hundred ad-
The suly i Snel that A Juiduglane fide 'fofuy usa 11
was Tanglefoot—and as throwing oney. She
she was afraid of horses. leaves her races at the post, I tell
much money betting on her you.
soured on her and told the “Do ye
to sell her or give her away. This with gra
sold her for dog meat. When “Tim, I know it. She's an
home last night I fired him nuisance when she has a
- close to the rail. | gets
“An’ here's her registration certif- tire field
icate from the Jockey Club, sor. ing
I'll help meself to it, if ye plase. her
Sor, w! a rich an’ aisy-goin’ man *“
like ye gets into the racin’ game, the lasht day,
sure, all the confidince min in
know him for the rightful receiver ag’in
all their gold bricks. Now, I enough to
horses—their conformation, than
dispositions an’ abilities. An’,
families an’ records! The starter
mothy 5
"Tis an’ iver was Ti
to ask that favor.
together.
”
oT
zé
ar
titled: “Great Thoroughbred Sires.”
“Open that at random an 'name any
tallion in it. I'll give ye his dam
an’ sire an’ run the both o' thim
_ five erations. An' I'll give
ye his ' record an’ that o' the
generations of ancestors. 'Tis an ed must get around the field as
examination ye should be givin’ me
before hirin’ me. Al when
i
I'll tell them a
LE
and general manager of the thor- check for forty-one hundred dollars.
oughbred horse and your, “Plase wire this in the morn'in to
salary is three a month. I yer own bettin' comm
believe I'm going to get somewhere New York, Salt Lake City,
with you.” Los Angeles an’ Francisco, sor,”
pe § J. Donovan was so happy he begged, “an’ lay it on Tangle-
he alm wept. The money meant foot's nose, in the shtake tomorrow.
nothing to him, but the authority, - “Tim, have you gone crazy?”
the trust and confidence of this rich,| “Sure, I'm crazy—like a fox. An’
horse-groping Ben Toothaker meant if ye'll take my advice yell have
He with a five thousand on her nose yerself.”
ve Mr. Tooth-, “I wouldn't bet stage money on
a gentleman that little bit of dog meat, Tim.
derives from a racing stable: that Besides, my Don Felipe is in that
indescribable thrill of seeing his stake.”
colors out in front in a worth-while, “Well, thin, sor, bet mine an’ Tl
field. 'be yer debtor. Me mind's made up.
He went to Agua Caliente with I've wangled her into a shpot, thanks
Ben Toothaker and engaged, as ex-|to the shtarter; I've nailed me flag
ercise boy, a splendid jockey who | to the masthead an’ I'll go down wit
had been set down for six months |the ship.”
for rough riding. Then they spent] Ben Toothaker argued with him,
a month, visiting various blood-stock but Timothy J. was obdurate, so
that is currently supposed to move
:
foot by three length
| second, Tomitito
bets on Toothaker's horses. He had '
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Toothaker spoofed him about her. "her!
“You're just running that mare for vourneen!
sentiment,” he declared. “The work- Tim this day, wit’ the colors of oul
out she'll give you in the morning Ireland on ye"
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“She'll do it yi," said Timothy J. Tomitito, I donno,” Timothy J.
Timothy J. grunted. He knew | won
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wit’ the little darlin’ save an’ excipt '0 see one of those
she's afraid o' horses,” he would re- Make the sport of
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He had paid his nomination fee to ning straight and courageous
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'dle girth
thy |
“Are ten feet from
to start that little rat of othy J. Donovan was broken flattc
efoot, Tim?" the lat- than soup on a plate.
sat down on her with a good
on her head. grh
Timothy J. Donovan's old hand
pros- | trembled so he could not focus hi
ts, and at the spring meeting at glass on the race.
Tanforan his careful work began to Toothaker, sor, II can't look at th
bear fruit. He had eight horsesin darlin’"” he quavered.
his stable and in the twenty-one day owned a thoroughbred before—ar
three I'm not used to—seein’ me colors-
times he was placed and four times in front.
corner o' these bits. Bits should be De Showed. The meeting closed pussy is a cat.
large silver cups, have a shtroke!
eighteen thousand dollars won and a an experience like this. I'm a fool!
“Oh, Misthe
“I've nive
She'll win as sure a
Oh, I'm goin’ t
I'm too ould fo
“Into the stretch!” The loud-speak
er was bringing the scene to ol
Timothy J., who sat with his face i
his hands, his eyes closed. *
Don
her, sor,” Timothy J. almost moan
“She’s afraid o' horses whi
they're in front o' her, but—they'r
not in front o' her now, hivin Ss
Oh, come, come,
Ye're runnin’ for oul
“At the eighth pole! Tanglefoc
by a length and a half, Tomitit
+ in the afternoon she'd make you a second, Don Felipe by half a length.
“What's happened to that
By a supreme effort
eyes and looked up the track in
finishes
one
will never die. Tu es ons
itito was crawling up on the
mare, stretched flat now and
The bat was rising and : 0
a five-thousand-dollar added Tomitito and he was :
race of six furlongs for two-year- with a noble effort. At the t
This was to be the his
head was at the mare's sa
magnifice:
past Tanglefoc
wire—and Tin
jump and it forged
the
“You should
vised him.
play her 4
bling hand or
er! I'l it. Look at the no
o' him. mitito is a chestnut fou
wit’ a shap
shtar in the middle o’ his forehe:
This horse, runnin’ as Tomitito, h:
in addition to that shtar, a patch
white above his muzzle, an’ they’
put a chestnut shtain on it. 1
mare, rubbin’ her wet nose ag’
his, has rubbed off a bit 0’ t
shtain, an’ I, rubbin’ her nose, got
smear of it on me hand. I dema
He tea el ATi Tor
ower
n the horse's mouth open. Ҥ
year old if he's a day!” he yells
(Continued on page 7, Col. 8.)