Blister Jones Part 31

"'Who you callin' a smoke?' says s...o...b..ll, startin' fur Micky. 'I'll slap the ugly I'ish mouth off you!'

"Micky picks up a pitchfork.

"'Go awn, you black b.o.o.b!' he says. 'If I reaches fer yer gizzard with this tickler, I gets it!'

"s...o...b..ll backs up. I grabs the fork from the little shrimp.

"'Now, you beat it!' I says to him.

"'Aw, you go to h.e.l.l!' says Micky. He lays down on a bail of straw 'n'

pulls his hat over his face. 'If any guy bothers me while I'm gettin'

my rest,' he says, 'call a hea.r.s.e. Don't wake me up till some guy wants a hoss worked out.'

"One day I goes to lay a piker's bet in Ike Rosenberg's book.

"'All across on Tantrum,' I says to Ike.

"'h.e.l.lo, Blister,' says Ike, when he goes to hand me the ticket. 'I like that one myself. Go over 'n' lay me a hundred 'n' fifty the same way,--here's the change.'

"When I bring Ike his ticket he tells me to wait a minute, 'n' pretty soon he puts a sheet-writer on the block 'n' steps down.

"'Come over here,' he says, 'n' I trails him out of the bettin' shed.

'I've took a two-year-old for a thousand dollar marker of Seattle's,'

says Ike, swingin' 'round on me. 'You want him?'

"'To train, you mean?' I says, 'Is that it?'

"'Sure,' says Ike. 'You can have him on shares if you want.'

"'Tell me about him,' I says.

"'Well,' says Ike, 'he's a big little hoss made good all over. He ain't never started yet, but he's been propped for two months. He's by Edgemont. First dam, Cora, by Musketeer. Second dam, Debutante, by Peddler. Third dam, Daisy Dean, by Salvation. Fourth dam, Iole, by Messenger. He's registered as Hamilton, 'n' that's all I know.'

"'That's sure some breedin',' I says. 'But I never takes a colt on shares. I'll handle him fur you as careful as I know how 'n' it'll cost you fifty a month. That's the best I can do.'

"'I'll send him over this evenin',' says Ike. 'Let me know what you think of him after he works out for you.'

"I like this Hamilton colt the minute I gets my lamps on him. He ain't over fifteen hands, but he's all hoss. He'll weigh right at nine hundred, 'n' that's quite a chunk of a two-year-old. He's got a fine little head on him 'n' his eye has the right look. A good game hoss'll look at you like a eagle. I don't want nothin' to do with a sheep-eyed pup. This colt has a eye like a game c.o.c.k.

"Peewee Simpson is at my stalls when they brings the colt over, 'n'

after we've sized him up I asks Peewee what he thinks of the little rooster.

"'Him?' says Peewee. 'He's a bear-cat. I'll bet he entertains you frequent 'n' at short notice. I don't figger him related to Mary's lamb, not any. You better keep your eye on little Hamilton. Hammy's likely to be a naughty boy any time.'

"Peewee's got the correct hunch--the first time s...o...b..ll takes him out Hamilton runs off 'n' the boy don't get him stopped till he romps five miles.

"'Can't you stop him sooner'n that?' I says to s...o...b..ll when he's back.

"Micky's at the stalls that mawnin', 'n' he b.u.t.ts in, as usual.

"'Stop him!' he says. 'That black b.o.o.b couldn't stop a hoss in a box stall. Lemme me have him next work-out!'

"'I'll let you have a slap on the ear,' I says.

"'Aw, you go to h.e.l.l!' says Micky.

"Next work-out day Hamilton pulls off the same stunt. He's feelin'

extra good that mawnin', I guess, 'cause he makes a nine mile trip of it. Micky stands there with me, watchin' the colt go round 'n' round the track.

"'Why don't you can that choc'lit drop,' he says, ''n' put a white man up?'

"'Meanin' you?' I says. 'You'd holler fur your milk bottle before he goes a eighth with you.'

"'Aw, you go to h.e.l.l!' says Micky.

"I borrows a curb 'n' chain from Eddy Murphy--he's been usin' it on ole Dandelion. It's fierce--you can bust a hoss's jaw with it. I puts it on Hamilton next work-out.

"'I guess that'll hold little Hammy,' I says, when s...o...b..ll's up. But it don't. The colt ain't any more'n felt the curb when he bolts into the fence 'n' chucks s...o...b..ll off. I starts to catch the hoss, but Micky gets to him first 'n' grabs him.

"'Lemme give him a whirl,' he says. 'Come on--be a sport fur a change!'

"s...o...b..ll rolls away from the colt 'n' picks hisself up.

"'He is shoh welcome to him,' he says. 'I got no moh use foh him.'

"I studies a minute, lookin' at Micky. He don't come much above Hamilton's knee. He's lookin' at me like a pup beggin' fur a bone.

"'Go to it, you ornery little shrimp!' I says at last. 'If a worse pair ever gets together I've never seed it!'

"Micky gives a yelp like a terrier.

"'Take off this bit 'n' put a straight bar on him,' he says.

"'Why, you couldn't hold one of his ears with a bar bit,' I says.

"'Who's ridin' this hoss?' says Micky. 'Go awn, get the bit!'

"'Get him what he wants,' I says to s...o...b..ll.

"We leads the colt on to the track, when the bits is changed, 'n' just as I throws Micky up I see he's got a bat.

"'What you goin' to do with that?' I says. 'You need a parachute, not a whip!'

"'_I_ always ride 'em with a bat. Turn him loose,' says Micky.

"Well, it's the same thing over again, the colt runs off. All Micky does is to keep him in the track. I see he ain't pullin' a pound.

They've gone about six mile 'n' Hamilton begins to slow a little. Just then Micky lights into him with the bat.