, I
think, and just leave him to ride the best he knows how. We've got a
better jockey in Westley. Besides, the Brooklyn Handicap has taken a lot
out of their mare; they may find that she'll go back after it. I think
you'd better get rid of that Shandy serpent; he seems ripe for any
deviltry. You can't tell but what he might get at The Dutchman if
somebody paid him. If I'm any judge of outlawed human nature, he'd do
it. I've got to run down to Brookfield on a matter of business,
but shall be back again in a day or so. Just keep an eye on The
Dutchman--but I needn't tell you that, of course."

"That two-year-old I bought at Morris Park is coughin' an' runnin'
at the nose; I blistered his throat last night; he's got influenza,"
volunteered the Trainer.

"Keep him away from The Dutchman, then."

"I've got him in another barn; that stuff's as catchin' as measles."

"If The Dutchman were to get a touch of it, Porter would land the Derby
with Lucretia, I fancy."

"Or if they got it in their stable we'd be on Easy Street."

"I suppose so. But Dixon's pretty sharp; he'll look out if he hears it's
about. However, we've got to watch our own horse and let them do the
same."

XXVII

That evening Langdon and Jakey Faust were closeted together in a room
of the former's cottage. An A1 piece of villainy was on, and they were
conversing in low tones.

"It's a cinch for The Dutchman if it wasn't for that damn mare
Lucretia," Langdon observed, in an injured tone, as though somehow the
mare's excellence was an unwarranted interference with his rights.

"What about the jock?" asked Faust.

"No good--can't be done. He's mooney on the gal."

"Huh!" commented the Cherub. "Did you talk it over with the Boss? He's
not a bad guy gettin' next a good thing."

"He gave me the straight tip to give Redpath the go-by."

"What's his little game? Is he going to hedge on the mare?"

"No; he'll stand his bet flat-footed. Say, he's the slickest! If he
didn't give me the straight office that the mare might get sick, then
I'm a Dutchman."

"We're both Dutchmen." The Cherub laughed immoderately at his stupid
joke. "See, we're both standin' for The Dutchman, ain't we?"

Langdon frowned at the other's levity. "You'll laugh out the other side
your mouth if Lucretia puts up a race in the Derby like she did in the
Handicap."

"But ain't she goin' to get sick? We could whip-saw them both ways
then, that's if we knew it first. I could