ing to be after his big
friend, while Albert leaned back against the wind, holding him.

The horses had settled to their gallop, their steady, rhythmical stride
only varied as they rose at their fences, spread themselves, slid
earthward and went away again with a steady roar of hoofs.

The three kept well together till they swung for home, then the white
shirt began to bob up against the sky a second before the dark bodies of
the other two showed.

"Tailin' 'em off," muttered Old Mat. "Ain't 'alf tuckin' into it,
Four-Pound ain't."

Then Lollypop began to lag, and Jerry's arm was going.

"Stopped him dead," said Silver.

"And he's a good little two-mile hoss, too," replied Old Mat.

Another moment and the white shirt came over the last fence, the brown
horse soaring like some great eagle.

Silvertail, clinging gamely to her leader, brushed through the fence and
pecked heavily on landing.

Monkey punished her savagely.

"Ain't in a very pretty temper, Monkey ain't," muttered Old Mat, as the
little jockey pulled aside and slipped off. "Now Make-Way-There'll take
it up."

The brown horse came thundering by, steady and strong, his little jockey
collected as himself, lying out over her horse's neck.

"The fences don't trouble her much," said Silver, his voice calm and
heart beating.

"See, she's that strong," wheezed Old Mat confidentially. "You wouldn't
think it, but there's eight stun o' that gal good. It's her bone's so
big."

The brown horse had swept past them, going wide of the fences for the
second time round.

Make-Way-There, who had been dancing on his toes away on the left as he
waited for his cue, chimed in as Four-Pound-the-Second came up alongside
him.

He settled down to his stride at once and took the lead.

The brown horse, entirely undisturbed by this new rival, held on his
mighty way.

The two horses swung round the curve, on the outside of the fences,
Four-Pound-the-Second on the inside berth and close to the quarters of
his leader.

The horses dropped into a dip, but for some reason the echo of their
hoofs came reverberating back to the watchers in ever-growing roar. When
they emerged from the hollow and raced up the opposite slope they were
still together.

Then they made for home.

Old Mat had edged up alongside Silver.

"When he lays down to it, belly all along the ground!" he whispered, in
the ecstasy of a connoisseur enjoying a masterpiece.

"Whew!--can't he streak!"