giving six pounds," he said, "he
should be beat a length. If it's more, go cautious, miss, and save your
money for another day. He hasn't been looking all I should like of him
for a long time--that's plain truth; and when a horse isn't looking all
I should like of him, 'go easy' say I and keep your money under the
bed."

Anna laughed at the kindly advice, and leaving the car she walked to the
summit of the hill and there watched the horses--but three pretty specks
they appeared--far down in the hollow. The exhilaration of the great
open spaces, the wide unbroken grandeur of the downs, the sweetness of
the air, the freshness of the day, brought blood to her pallid cheeks
and a sparkle of life to her eyes. How free it all was, how
unrestrained, how suggestive of liberty and of a boundless kingdom! And
then upon it all the excitements of the gallop, the thunder of hoofs
upon the soft turf, the bent figures of the jockeys, the raking strides
of the beautiful horses--Anna no longer wondered why sport could so
fascinate its devotees. She felt at such a moment that she would have
gladly put her whole fortune upon Whirlwind.

"He wins--he wins--he wins," she cried as the three drew near, and Willy
Forrest, watching her with cunning eyes, said that the trap was closed
indeed and the key in his possession. Whirlwind, a magnificent chestnut
four-year-old, came striding up the hill as though the last furlong of
the mile and a half he had galloped were his chief delight. He was a
winner by a short head as they passed the post, and old John Farrier
could not hide his satisfaction.

"He's the best plucked 'un in England to-day, lady, and you may put your
wardrobe on him after that. Be quick about it though, for there'll be no
odds to speak of when the touts have written to-day's work in the
newspapers. Go and telegraph your commissions now. There isn't a minute
to lose."

Willy Forrest seconded the proposal eagerly.

"I should back him for five thou," he said as they left the course
together, "what's the good of half measures? You might as well play
dominoes in a coffee shop. And I can always break the news to your
father if you lose."

Anna hardly knew what to say. When she consented finally to risk the
money, she did not know that Willy Forrest was the man who laid against
her horse, and that if she lost it would be to him.

"The boss is good enough," he told himself, "but the near-off is dicky
or I never saw one. She'll lo