as a blow to him. He had expected
the colt to lose, thereby giving him occasion to scratch it. If this had
turned out as he had expected, he would have been the object of popular
sympathy and his reputation as a sportsman and an honourable man would
have been enhanced. But to his surprise and vexation, the colt had
proved his sterling worth and within the last few hours the public had
established him more firmly than ever in the betting. There was always
the chance, of course, that the race would leave its mark on the colt
and that some ill effects might supervene, in which case the original
programme could be carried out without exciting the suspicions of the
many-headed.

This was precisely what did happen. Three days later Mallow came into
his employer's study with a long face and the information that the
colt's lack of condition was rather more manifest than before. For once
in a way Mallow was not polite and forgot the respect due to his master.

"It's just as I told you, Sir George," he exclaimed. "The colt's been
ruined. I don't say it isn't possible to get him fit in time for the
Derby, because he's a wonder. But if you had tried to ruin the horse you
couldn't have gone about it in a better way. I can almost cry when I
think of it."

"You are forgetting yourself, Mallow," Sir George said.

"Oh, maybe I am, sir, maybe I am. I have been dealing with fools and
knaves all my lifetime, and I ought to be accustomed to them by now. I
feel as if I had been a party to cutting that colt's throat. You don't
deserve to have a horse like that in your stable; you don't deserve to
win another race as long as you live."

Sir George was vastly indignant. He wanted to know if Mallow realized
whom he was talking to. But Mallow was in no mood for politeness and
told his employer a few home truths. He sketched graphically what the
better-class sportsmen would say when they realized what had happened.
It was useless to be angry, all the more so because he knew that every
word Mallow spoke was true. On the spur of the moment he had intended to
give Mallow instructions to have the horse struck out of all his
three-year engagements, but looking his irate servant in the face he
lacked the pluck to do so. So he proceeded to compromise.

"At the worst," he said with some dignity, "it was only an error in
judgment. If you can get the colt fit again before the Derby the public
will have no grievance against me. They will win their mone