castically. "With
betting privileges!"

"You don't quite understand, dear lady," he explained. "Even in the
cleanest sport we cannot prevent a man's having an opinion and backing
it with his own money. What I intended to do was to regulate it.
Regulate it."

Tish was quite mollified. "Well, of course," she said, "I suppose since
it must be, it is better--er,--regulated. But why haven't you
succeeded?"

"An unfortunate thing happened just as I had the deal about to close,"
he replied, and drew a long breath. "The town had raised twenty-five
hundred. I was to duplicate the amount. But just at that time a--a young
brother of mine in the West got into difficulties, and I--but why go
into family matters? It would have been easy enough for me to pay my
part of the purse out of my share of the gate money; but the committee
demands cash on the table. I haven't got it."

Tish stood up in her car and looked out over the track.

"Twenty-five hundred dollars is a lot of money, young man."

"Not so much when you realize that the gate money will probably amount
to twelve thousand."

Tish turned and surveyed the grandstand.

"That thing doesn't seat twelve hundred."

"Two thousand people in the grandstand--that's four thousand dollars.
Four thousand standing inside the ropes at a dollar each, four thousand
more. And say eight hundred machines parked in the oval there at five
dollars a car, four thousand more. That's twelve thousand for the gate
money alone. Then there are the concessions to sell peanuts, toy
balloons, lemonade and palm-leaf fans, the lunch-stands, merry-go-round
and moving-picture permits. It's a bonanza! Fourteen thousand anyhow."

"Half of fourteen thousand is seven," said Tish dreamily. "Seven
thousand less twenty-five hundred is thirty-five hundred dollars
profit."

"Forty-five hundred, dear lady," corrected Mr. Ellis, watching her.
"Forty-five hundred dollars profit to be made in two weeks, and nothing
to do to get it but sit still and watch it coming!"

I can read Tish like a book and I saw what was in her mind. "Letitia
Carberry!" I said sternly. "You take my warning and keep clear of this
foolishness. If money comes as easy as that it ain't honest."

"Why not?" demanded Mr. Ellis. "We give them their money's worth,
don't we? They'd pay two dollars for a theater seat without half
the thrills--no chances of seeing a car turn turtle or break its
steering-knuckle and dash into the side-lines. Two