been inclined to cheat, he could
have easily diverted suspicion. He would have let Domingo come in
second, not third!"

"If he were not guilty, and afraid of detection, he wouldn't pay forfeit
to-day nor sell his horses."

"He only retires from the turf because he's going to marry----"

"Nonsense! That's no reason whatever."

Like all gamblers, the frequenters of the turf are distrustful and
inclined to be quarrelsome. No one is above their suspicions when they
lose nor above their wrath when they are duped. And this Domingo affair
united all the losers against Valorsay; they formed a little battalion
of enemies who were no doubt powerless for the time being, but who were
ready to take a startling revenge whenever a good opportunity presented
itself. Naturally enough, M. Wilkie sided with the marquis, whom he had
heard his friend, M. de Coralth, speak of on several occasions. "Accuse
the dear marquis!" he exclaimed. "It's contemptible, outrageous. Why,
only last evening he said to me, 'My good friend, Domingo's defeat cost
me two thousand louis!'" M. de Valorsay had said nothing of the kind,
for the very good reason that he did not even know Wilkie by sight;
still, no one paid much heed to the assertion, whereat Wilkie felt
vexed, and resolved to turn his attention to his jockey.

The latter was a lazy, worthless fellow, who had been dismissed from
every stable he had previously served in, and who swindled and robbed
the young gentlemen who employed him without either limit or shame.
Although he made them pay him a very high salary--something like eight
thousand francs a year--on the plea that it was most repugnant to his
feelings to act as a groom, trainer, and jockey at the same time, he
regularly every month presented them with fabulous bills from the grain
merchant, the veterinary surgeon, and the harness-maker. In addition, he
regularly sold Pompier's oats in order to obtain liquor, and in fact the
poor animal was so nearly starved that he could scarcely stand on his
legs. The jockey ascribed the horse's extreme thinness to a system of
rigorous training; and the owners did not question the statement in the
least. He had made them believe, and they in turn had made many others
believe, that Pompier de Nanterre would certainly win such and such a
race; and, trusting in this fallacious promise, they risked their money
on the poor animal--and lost it.

In point of fact, this jockey would have been the happiest m