AN OFF CHANCE. 205 



win the Cup, Flutfcerton saw that he would be 

 in a mess. But she was sure to win ! They 

 fancied Glee Singer, a three-year-old from a 

 Northern stable, and he had heard wonderful 

 stories of the horse's ability. Should he save 

 his money? No! "Man or mouse," he 

 thought. There was no doubt about the mare's 

 speed and stamina, and supposing he risked 

 more money, and then the American mare or an 

 outsider were to win after all ! No ; he would 

 stand it out and hope for the best. When in 

 due course the horses paraded and cantered, 

 Proserpine sweated and certainly went short in 

 her canter. But she often did that, he thought ; 

 she would soon warm to her work. Still it was 

 with rather a quaking at the heart that he 

 waited. How Proserpine and Glee Singer came 

 up the straight side by side, the three-year-old 

 evidently having the best of it, and how the 

 mare which carried his thousand was beaten 

 three lengths, need not be described. Things 

 had gone badly all the meeting. Crossley had 

 assured him that one of his horses had no 

 chance ; thereupon, fearing only that, he had 

 backed another, and Crossley's won any how — to 

 the astonishment of his owner, as that astute 

 and seldom-deceived personage vowed and 

 declared ; while another that Crossley assured 



