HARK FORRARD! 69 



' I shall ride my own. I suppose you will 

 put up Mr. Sharpe.' 



' That I certainly shall, if he can stay down 

 here to ride.' 



' I have to ride at Coney Island on Tuesday,' 

 said Foxhall Sharpe, ' but I can easily manage it, 

 as I can go up by the night train to New York. 

 Do you want to back your horse, Mr. Miller ? I 

 should like to have a few dollars on my mount, 

 and unless Independent has improved a great 

 deal since last year, I shall beat you very easily.' 



^ I will back my horse for two hundred and 

 fifty dollars if you like,' said Reginald. 



^ Agreed,' said Sharpe. 



The news of the match had by this time 

 spread through the club, and as almost every 

 man dining in the club that night had been at 

 Ivy City during the day, they all took great 

 interest in it. Reginald was positively inun- 

 dated with offers to lay against his horse, and 

 before the evening was over he found on con- 

 sulting his book that he had backed Independent 

 for no less than seventeen hundred and fifty 



