"Well, sir," she replies, "if you are determined, have your desire." "Good!" cries the Captain, 66 we are just in time. There is the horse." And, with another gallant bow, the Captain rides away towards the horses. The boys are again instructed much after the same fashion the signal is given in the midst of breathless suspense, and the horses dart from their places. : They dart around, Sir Archy again leading: but this position he does not hold throughout the first mile: he gradually falls behind, and when they pass the winningpost he is fifty yards in the rear. His owner tears his hair, but the crowd do not see him—they flush and shout. The second mile is between Fair Anna and the Arabian, and they lock in the middle of it; but the Arabian gradually takes the lead, and when they flash up to the stand he is ten yards ahead. Sir Archy is distanced and withdrawn. It would be impossible to describe the excitement of the crowd-the tremendous effect produced upon them by this reversal of all their hopes and expectations. They roll about like waves, they shout, they curse, they rumble and groan like a stormy sea. The horses are the objects of every one's attention. Their condition will go far to indicate the final result-and Sir Archy being led away and withdrawn, the race now will be between Fair Anna and the Arabian. Mr. James looks more solemn than ever, and all eyes are turned upon him. Captain Waters is not visible-he is yonder, conversing with the ladies. But the horses! Fair Anna pants and breathes heavily: her coat is drenched more completely than before with per spiration; her mouth foams; she tosses her head; when the rake is applied to her back a shower falls. The Arabian is wet all over too; but he breathes regularly; his eye is bright and his head calm. He has commenced running. The first intention of Mr. James is to give up the race, but his pride will not let him. He utters an oath, and gives renewed instructions to his rider. These instructions are to whip and spur-to take the lead and keep it, from the start. The moment for the final struggle arrives, and Captain Ralph merely says, "Rein free!" The boys mount-the crowd opens; the drum taps and the animals are off like lightning. Fair Anna feels that all her previous reputation is at stake, and flies like a deer. She passes around the first mile like a flash of white light; but the Arabian is beside her. For a quarter of a mile thereafter they run neck and neck-the rider of fair Anna lashes and spurs desperately. They come up to the quarter-stretch in the last mile at supernatural speed-the spectators rise on their toes and shout:-two shadows pass them like the shadows of darting hawks-the mare barely saves her distance and the Arabian has triumphed. If we could not describe the excitement after the second heat, what possibility is there that we could convey an idea of the raging and surging pandemonium which the crowd now came to resemble? Furious cries-shouts-cursesapplause-laughter-and the rattle of coin leaving unwil ling hands are some of the sounds. But here we must give up :—as no mere pen can describe the raging of a great mass of water lashed by an angry wind into foam and whistling spray and muttering waves, which rise and fall and crash incessantly, so we cannot trace the outline of the wildly excited crowd. [Afterwards come contests with the quarter-staff, a wrestling match, running matches, a contest of singing among "a dozen blushing maidens," and of fiddling among twenty bold musicians: and the day is wound up with a great banquet.] ZEBULON BAIRD VANCE. ZEBULON BAIRD VANCE was born in Buncombe County, North Carolina, and was educated at Washington College, Tennessee, and at the University of North Carolina. He studied law and began its practice in Asheville. He was soon elected to the State Legislature and to Congress; and from 1854 to his death was continuously in public life except just after the war. His wit and eloquence made him a great favorite both on the stump and in Congress, and the influence he wielded in his state was unbounded. He was opposed to secession, but joined his state in her decision and became colonel of the 26th North Carolina Regiment, one of the best of the army. In 1862 he was elected governor of the State and was so active and enterprising in getting aid by sea for the cause that he was called the "War Governor of the South." He was in favor of considering the negotiations for peace in 1863, but he neglected no measures to insure the success of the Confederacy. In 1865 he was held a prisoner of war for a few weeks in Washington. His political disabilities were not removed till 1872; in 1876 he was elected governor of North Carolina, and in 1879, United States Senator, having been elected and his seat refused him in 1870. His death occurred in Washington City, and he is buried in Asheville. His State is now preparing to erect a monument expressing her honor and devotion to her illustrious son. WORKS. Speeches: (in Congress and on Public Occasions.) CHANGES WROUGHT BY THE WAR. (From All About it-an address before the young men of Raleigh, N. C.: published in "Land We Love," January, 1867) Virginia to the north of us was settled by English Cavaliers; South Carolina, mainly by French Huguenots; both among the noblest stocks of Western Europe. North Carolina, with but a slight infusion of each, was settled by a sturdier-and in some respects-a better race than either. She was emphatically the offspring of religious and political persecution, and the vital stream of her infant life was of Scotch-Irish origin. A cross of those two noble races has produced a breed of men as renowned for great deeds and modest worth as perhaps any other in this world. Two instances will suffice for this. Perhaps the most manly and glorious feat of arms in modern times was the defence of Londonderry, as the boldest and most remarkable state paper was the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. Both were the work mainly of men such as settled North Carolina. The Country Gentlemen.-Perhaps one of the most remarkable changes which we may expect, is one that will soon be apparent on the face of our country society. The abolition of slavery will do wonders here. It puts an end to the reign of those lordly-landed proprietors, planters, and farmers, who constituted so striking and |