136 RACECOURSE AND COVERT SIDE. 



Clive gives his mare lier head, and without a 

 touch of the whip he lands her an easy winner. 



Mabel scarcely knows whether to laugh or cry, 

 and is prevented from doing either by a whisper 

 from Lady Selstead, which brings her to herself, 

 and both ladies look down with surprise at Sir 

 Thomas Aston, who certainly has a most remark- 

 able way of acknowledging gratitude. 



'' My dear Sir Thomas, I'm awfully obliged 

 to you for telling me about Heartsease. I've 

 won a hundred," a smiling youth gleefully 

 exclaimed. 



" Yes, awfully kind. I backed it too, and so 

 did Harvey, I know," a second youth, also 

 smiling, added. 



But the genial Sir Thomas turned from them 

 with a scowl, and said something very fierce and 

 disagreeable, which made them marvel exceed- 

 ingly. 



Congratulations and thanks were, indeed, 

 showered from all sides upon the irate Aston for 

 his tip, the speakers little knowing the motive 

 which had made him speak, and how utterly the 

 result which he had predicted was opposed to 

 his anticipations. To pay and look pleasant are 

 the duties of a loser. Sir Thomas could pay ; 

 looking pleasant was beyond him. 



''And yet Mabel tells me you were badly 



