Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/251

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236
TWENTY-FIVE MILES IN TWO HOURS

many tricks which the uninitiated know nothing of; so when the six men are fairly past the judges' stand, as it would be formed now, he ran up behind his friend and spoke words of endearment and encouragement, and owing to the other five belonging to other tribes, who did not speak the Kansas dialect, they did not comprehend that the young fellow was telling Ysopete that he could run the five miles and would do so by his side, if he would dash in front of the others: so Ysopete resolves to now begin to call on his reserve force, although it seems a little early to do so, but resolves to drop dead rather than be beaten, and now without much effort he darts forward and our young racer very quickly gets past the other five and soon is even with his friend, and as you realize, he is fresh, so there is no trouble for him to keep abreast, and in a few sentences he informs his friend that he proposes never again to permit the others to overtake them, and sets the point where they were to pass the others at about the turning place. From this on it seemed easy for Ysopete, what with those behind, who he was determined should not again catch up with him, and the few in the lead, who were being reached very rapidly, made it appear easy, hence the balance of the race seemed a foregone conclusion, and it was rapid, there is no mistake, for the ten miles was finished in thirty-five minutes. It may seem incredible to make ten miles in thirty-five minutes, but this is based on the great authority, wherein it asserts that in playing a certain game the Indians, although they had to pick up a stick with their toes, yet they made twenty-five miles in two hours.