y half of his fortune.
Then, should the horse win, he still would be passing rich, and should
he lose, he would, at least, have all of fifty dollars.

With a book-maker he wagered that sum, and then, in unhappy indecision,
stood, in one hand clutching his ticket that called for a potential
thousand and fifty dollars, and in the other an actual fifty. It was not
a place for meditation. From every side men, more or less sane, swept
upon him, jostled him, and stamped upon him, and still, struggling for a
foothold, he swayed, hesitating. Then he became conscious that the ring
was nearly empty, that only a few shrieking individuals still ran down
the line. The horses were going to the post. He must decide quickly. In
front of him the book-maker cleaned his board, and, as a final appeal,
opposite the names of three horses chalked thirty to one. Dromedary was
among them. Such odds could not be resisted. Carter shoved his fifty at
the man, and to that sum added the twenty dollars still in his pocket.
They were the last dollars he owned in the world. And though he knew
they were his last, he was fearful lest the book-maker would refuse
them. But, mechanically, the man passed them over his shoulder.

"And twenty-one hundred to seventy," he chanted.

When Carter took his seat beside Dolly, he was quite cold. Still, Dolly
did not speak. Out of the corner of her eyes she questioned him.

"I got fifty at twenty to one," replied Carter, "and seventy at thirty!"

In alarm, Dolly turned upon him.

"SEVENTY!" she gasped.

Carter nodded. "All we have," he said. "We have sixty cents left, to
start life over again!"

As though to encourage him, Dolly placed her finger on her race-card.

"His colors," she said, "are 'green cap, green jacket, green and white
hoops.'"

Through a maze of heat, a half-mile distant, at the starting-gate,
little spots of color moved in impatient circles. The big, good-natured
crowd had grown silent, so silent that from the high, sun-warmed grass
in the infield one could hear the lazy chirp of the crickets. As though
repeating a prayer, or an incantation, Dolly's lips were moving quickly.

"Green cap," she whispered, "green jacket, green and white hoops!"

With a sharp sigh the crowd broke the silence. "They're off!" it cried,
and leaned forward expectant.

The horses came so fast. To Carter their conduct seemed outrageous.
It was incredible that in so short a time, at a pace so reckless, they
would