BOOKS AND PIGEONS. 149 



he more than saved himself on the winner ; but 

 tlie secret of his hick, if secret there were, no 

 one had penetrated. 



His love affairs did not succeed, in spite of 

 old Lomax's aid ; for Kitty disdained Capper, 

 and though poor Frank Parker was in a bad 

 way, from which there seemed little chance of 

 his emerging, Kitty in her heart remained faithful, 

 notwithstanding that the lovers never met ; far 

 dearly as Frank loved Kitty, now that things 

 had gone wrong with him, and he saw no prospect 

 of righting them, he did not feel justified in 

 asking Kitty to bind herseK to his bad luck. 



As Stubson had truly said, it was Capper who 

 had ruined Frank. Nothing was easier, accord- 

 ing to Capper's showing, than to make ten 

 pounds into fifty on the turf. He had not done 

 so himself at this period owing to just such 

 another totally unprecedented run of bad luck 

 as that which had upset the little barber's system. 

 But it was easy all the same, he declared ; and 

 Frank, who was desperately anxious to get on in 

 the world, to take a farm and make a home for 

 Kitty, listened and credited what he heard. 

 Capper was to advise and share profits ; but the 

 beginning of the campaign was not successful, 

 the continuation was no better — for Frank, at 

 any rate — and the remainder of his little fortune 



