"'This hoss backs up if you use the bat on him,' I says to the jock, as he's tyin' his reins.
"'He backs up anyway, I guess,' he says, as the parade starts.
"The bird gets away good, but I'd overdone the lead in his socks. He finished a nasty last—thirty len'ths back.
"'Roll over, kid!' says the jock, when I go up to slip him his fee. 'Not fur ridin' that hippo. It 'ud be buglary—he couldn't beat a piano!'
"I meets Colonel King comin' out of the judge's stand that evenin'.
"'An owner's life has its trials and tribulations—eh, my boy?' he says.
"'Yes, sir!' I says. That's the first time Colonel King ever speaks to me, 'n' I swells up like a toad. 'I'm gettin' to be all the gravy 'round here,' I says to myself.
"Two days after this they puts an overnight mile run fur maidens on the card, 'n' I slips the bird into it. I knowed it was takin' a chance so soon after his bad race, but it looks so soft I can't stay 'way from it. I goes to Cal Davis, 'n' tells him to put a bet down.
"'Oh, ho!' he says. 'Lendin' me a helpin' hand, are you?' Then I tells him about Nickel.
"'Did Joe Nickel work him out for you?' he says. 'The best is good enough fur you, ain't it? I'll see Joe, 'n' if it looks good to him I'll take a shot at it. Much obliged to you.'