SUNSHINE BREAKS THEIR HEARTS. 71 



" Five to one," was the ready answer, given by a certain 

 commissioner standing close to the elbow of the questioner, and 

 bearing the plebeian name of Bill Smoothy. " Five to one, sir," 

 repeated he, with a bland smile, opening a small volume, and 

 gently poising, between a thumb and finger, a finely- pointed 

 pencil. 



" Done for a hundred ! " returned the supporter of Catch- 

 me-who-can. "I'll take," continued he, "five hundred to a 

 hundred that Catch-me-who-can wins." 



With additional blandness in the smile, Bill Smoothy pro- 

 ceeded to record the bet, and, as he did so, he muttered, in a tone 

 only audible to himself, " Catch-' em-alive." 



With a swing round the corner into the straight ground a 

 lot of horses was seen to come ; the gay, bright, and varied 

 colours of the riders fluttering in the breeze, and looking, in the 

 distance, like so many full-blown tulips. 

 " Who leads now 1 " shouted a voice. 



" Catch-me-who-can," was the reply ; " and Catch-me-who- 

 can wins." 



A certain commissioner standing near smiled still more 

 blandly. 



Just at this moment, however, it was loudly announced by 

 a hundred voices that " Catch-me-who-can was beaten." 



Now it was that the leader's bolt having been shot, Puffy 

 Dcddles eased the strong pull upon Sunshine's jaws, and, like 

 an arrow, the gallant horse rushed to the front ; and, upon reach- 

 ing the distance-post, the cry " Sunshine wins ! " rent the air. 

 Now it was that Robert Top's best lad sat in his saddle as still 

 as an Egyptian mummy might have been supposed to have done. 

 Hands down and motionless, Puffy Doddles glanced at the 

 struggling competitors by his side, among whom was the 

 iockey of " the old school," and quitting them — as the " official 

 report" declared — "with ridiculous ease, went in a winner by 

 six clear lengths." 



Sunshine had broken their hearts. 



