nearer,
until a thousand voices took it up at the foot of the grand stand, and
other thousands bellowed it up and up from tier to tier to the very
roof.

For, of a sudden, that blaze of caps and jackets, that huddle of horses
red and horses grey, horses black and horses roan, piebald, white--every
colour that a horse may be--had come at last to Tattenham Corner and
burst into the full view of everybody. Yet, as they came, a black mare,
hugging the railed enclosure on the inner side of the sweep, arrowed
forward with a sudden spurt, came like a rocket to the fore, and all the
earth and all the sky seemed to ring with the cry: "Wilding! Wilding!
Black Riot leads! Black Riot leads!"

She did--and kept it to the end!

In half a minute her number was up, yelling thousands were tumbling out
upon the field to cheer her, to cheer her rider, to cheer her proud
owner when he came out to lead her to the paddock and the weighing room,
and to feel in that moment the proudest and the happiest man in England;
and of those, not the least excited and delighted was Cleek.

Carried away by enthusiasm, he had risen again in his seat and, with his
hat held aloft upon a walking stick, was waving and stamping and
shouting enthusiastically: "Black Riot wins! Black Riot! Black Riot!
Bully boy! Bully boy!"

And so he was still shouting when he felt a hand touch him, and looking
round saw Mr. Narkom.

"Ripping, wasn't it, old chap?" said the superintendent. "No wonder you
are excited, considering what interest you have. Been looking for you,
my dear fellow. Knew of course, from your telling me, that you would be
here to-day, but shouldn't have been able to identify you but for the
presence of young Dollops here. I say: you're not going to stop now that
the great race is over, are you? The rest won't amount to anything."

"No, I shall not stop," said Cleek. "Why? Do you want me?"

"Yes. Lennard's outside with the limousine. Hop into it, will you, and
meet me at the Fiddle and Horseshoe, between Shepherd's Bush and Acton?
It's only half-past three and the limousine can cover the distance in
less than no time. Can't go with you. Got to round up my men here,
first. Join you shortly, however. McTavish has a sixty-horse-power
Mercedes, and he'll rush me over almost on your heels. Let Dollops go
home by train, and you meet me as I've asked, will you?"

"Yes," said Cleek.

And so the joyous holiday came to an unexpected end.

Parting from