"'How dare you--' he says, 'n' stops. 'But Ah shall prevent it!' he
says, 'n' starts fur the judge's stand. He ain't got a chance--just
then they get away, 'n' he turns back to me when he hears the crowd
holler, 'They're off!'
"'Young man,' he says, pointin' at me, 'n' he's shakin' like he's cold.
'What have Ah evah done to you to merit such treatment at yoh hands?'
"I see there's no use to lie to him, so I gives it to him straight.
"'Mr. Sanford,' I says, 'the hoss can't win without it, 'n' I don't
want to see you lose your money.'
"Ole man Sanford sort-a wilts. He seems to get smaller. I've never
noticed how old he is till now. He stands a-lookin' at me like he
never sees me before.
"The crowd begins to yell as the hosses hit the stretch. The Tramp is
out in front, 'n' he stays there all the way.
"The ole man never even looks towards the track.
"'He wins easy,' says Chick as they go under the wire, 'n' all you can
hear is 'Trampfast! Trampfast!' but ole man Sanford still keeps
a-starin' at me.
"'You want to cheer up, Mr. Sanford,' I says. 'You win a nice bet on
him.'
"He pulls the tickets out of his pocket 'n' looks at 'em. They call
fur sixteen hundred bucks.
"'As Ah have told you once befoh, young man,' he says, a-lookin' at the
tickets. 'Ah can not blame you greatly, because you are paht of yoh
times. This is the excuse Ah find foh you in thinking Ah would value
money moh than the spohtsmanship of a gentleman.
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