about Remorse?" "O, she's got a chance,"
he would answer, with a shrug which seemed to indicate that she had no
chance.

The favorite, under a heavy play, was rapidly cut to even money, while
the odds on the others were correspondingly increased. Remorse went to
five and six to one. Brown took fifty dollars out of his pocket, and,
going up to a prominent bookmaker, played--_the favorite_. Checkers
was paralyzed. The same performance Brown repeated with another
book-maker on the other side of the ring. Gradually Remorse's price
went up to eight to one, as it became generally known that her owner
was not playing her.

The favorite's odds went to "four to five," and Checkers fingered his
gold piece nervously. One book-maker still laid even money. Here was
his chance if he wanted to play it. He started forward, and stopped.
As he hesitated, Brown sauntered out of the ring. Checkers followed
mechanically.

From a distance he saw Brown meet two horsemen and, after a brief
conversation, give them each a roll of bills. He saw these two enter
the betting-ring and, taking opposite sides, "start down the line" on
Remorse; then the scheme was revealed to him.

From stand to stand they went, betting Remorse in each book, ten and
twenty dollars at a time; not enough to cause remark, but amounting to
hundreds in the aggregate. Gradually the odds began to recede.
Checkers rushed to the other end of the ring. "Gimme Remorse!" he
exclaimed, excitedly, handing his gold-piece to a convenient blockman.

"What the 'ell's this?" asked the wondering book-maker.

"It's fifty," answered Checkers, laconically.

"Well, it's the first time I ever seen one of them babies--but it looks
like it's good. Remorse, four hundred to fifty."

"If I win, I want it back," said Checkers. "It was given to me
by--it's my lucky piece."

"All right," was the answer, and Checkers walked away with his dearly
purchased ticket deep in his pocket.

Under a steady but somewhat mysterious play, Remorse was cut to four to
one, and the favorite went up to six to five. This was gratifying to
Checkers, as indicating that Brown and his friends were confident.

He went up into the grand stand; the horses were at the post. Remorse
was acting very badly--plunging, kicking and refusing to break. "I 'll
just about get left at the post," thought Checkers. "Say, that
favorite looks good," he remarked to a young fellow next to him.

"Good," echoed the