re than that, can
I?"

"I am afraid that is saying very little," he laughed. "I don't expect to
win, but I do hope I shall beat Richards, because he is so cock sure he
will beat me."

This wish was not gratified. The first and second horses made a close
race of it; behind them by ten or twelve lengths came the other horses
in a clump, Wilson and Richards singling themselves out in the last
hundred yards and making a desperate race for the third place, for which
they made a dead heat, amid great laughter from their comrades.

"That is excellent," Major Hannay said; "you won't see anything more
amusing than that today, girls. The third horse simply saved his stake,
so that as they will of course divide, they will have paid twenty-five
rupees each for the pleasure of riding, and the point which of their
tats is the fastest remains unsettled."

"Well, they beat a good many of them, Major Hannay," Miss Hunter said;
"so they did not do so badly after all."

"Oh, no, they did not do so badly; but it will be a long time before
they get over the chaff about their desperate struggle for the third
place."

The next two races attracted but slight attention from the occupants
of the carriage. Most of their acquaintances in the station came up one
after the other for a chat. There were many fresh introductions, and
there was so much conversation and laughter that the girls had little
time to attend to what was going on around them. Wilson and Richards
both sauntered up after changing, and were the subject of much chaff as
to their brilliant riding at the finish. Both were firm in the belief
that the judge's finding was wrong, and each maintained stoutly he had
beaten the other by a good head.

The race for Arabs turned out a very exciting one; the Rajah of
Bithoor's horse was the favorite, on the strength of its performances
elsewhere; but Prothero's horse was also well supported, especially in
the regiment, for the Adjutant was a first class rider, and was in
great request at all the principal meetings in Oude and the Northwest
Provinces, while it was known that the Rajah's horse would be ridden by
a native. The latter was dressed in strict racing costume, and had at
the last races at Cawnpore won two or three cups for the Rajah.

But the general opinion among the officers of the station was that
Prothero's coolness and nerve would tell. His Arab was certainly a fast
one, and had won the previous year, both at Cawnpore and