THE COMPACT 131 



He gave the full history of his predicament, of 

 the Patriots, and the money worries, and the 

 enemies who seemed bent on destroying his chance 

 of success. " If I could only get the horse out of 

 the country," said French. " But I can't." 



" Can't you? " said Bobby, who had followed 

 the tale with sparkHng eyes and rising colour. 

 " Who says you can't? I say you can, and I'll 

 show you how." 



He rose up and paced the floor. 



" Don't speak to me. This is simply frabjous! 

 Why, my dear chap, I've got just what you want." 



" What's that? " 



" A place where you can train haK-a-dozen 

 horses if you want to." 



" Where? " 



" Where? Why, down at Crowsnest, in Sussex. 

 It's not my place; it belongs, 's'matter of fact, to 

 Emmanuel Ibbetson. He's chucked horses, and 

 he's going to pull the place down and re-build when 

 he comes back from Africa. I can get a loan of it 

 for three or four months." 



'' What would the rent be? " asked Mr French. 



" Nothing. He'll lend me it. He's just now 

 constructing a big game expedition, and they 

 start in a few days. I saw him only the day before 

 yesterday at \^niite's. Lucky, ain't it, that I 

 thought of it? I'll wire to him now, asking for the 

 permit. The place is furnished all right; there's 

 a caretaker in it. It's a bungalow with no end of 

 fine stables. The Martens is the name of it." 



