decide a question of such moment. They came bunched together,
shifting and changing, with, through the dust, flashes of blue and
gold and scarlet. A jacket of yellow shot out of the dust and showed in
front; a jacket of crimson followed. So they were at the half; so they
were at the three-quarters.

The good-natured crowd began to sway, to grumble and murmur, then to
shout in sharp staccato.

"Can you see him?" begged Dolly.

"No," said Carter. "You don't see him until they reach the stretch."

One could hear their hoofs, could see the crimson jockey draw his whip.
At the sight, for he rode the favorite, the crowd gave a great gasp of
concern.

"Oh, you Gold Heels!" it implored.

Under the whip, Gold Heels drew even with the yellow jacket; stride by
stride, they fought it out alone.

"Gold Heels!" cried the crowd.

Behind them, in a curtain of dust, pounded the field. It charged in
a flying wedge, like a troop of cavalry. Dolly, searching for a green
jacket, saw, instead, a rainbow wave of color that, as it rose and fell,
sprang toward her in great leaps, swallowing the track.

"Gold Heels!" yelled the crowd.

The field swept into the stretch. Without moving his eyes, Carter caught
Dolly by the wrist and pointed. As though giving a signal, he shot his
free hand into the air.

"Now!" he shouted.

From the curtain of dust, as lightning strikes through a cloud, darted
a great, raw-boned, ugly chestnut. Like the Empire Express, he came
rocking, thundering, spurning the ground. At his coming, Gold Heels, to
the eyes of the crowd, seemed to falter, to slacken, to stand still.
The crowd gave a great cry of amazement, a yell of disgust. The chestnut
drew even with Gold Heels, passed him, and swept under the wire.
Clinging to his neck was a little jockey in a green cap, green jacket,
and hoops of green and white.

Dolly's hand was at her side, clutching the bench. Carter's hand still
clasped it. Neither spoke or looked at the other. For an instant, while
the crowd, no longer so good-natured, mocked and jeered at itself, the
two young people sat quite still, staring at the green field, at the
white clouds rolling from the ocean. Dolly drew a long breath.

"Let's go!" she gasped. "Let's thank him first, and then take me home!"

They found Dromedary in the paddock, and thanked him, and Carter left
Dolly with him, while he ran to collect his winnings. When he returned,
he showed her a sheaf of yellow bills, and as