52 A Good Day 



Breeders' Produce Stakes," &c., and glanced down the 

 names of owners. At first I failed to find it, looked 

 again with more care, and then a third time with 

 scrupulous minuteness. 



' It was not there ! 



' No name distantly resembling Newstead w^as on the 

 card. My ears could not have deceived me. Most 

 assuredly Wennington said Herbert Newstead, and of 

 course I had dined with Newstead the night before, 

 travelled down with him, seen him half a dozen times 

 since. I knew he had horses — one of his was entered 

 for a race earlier in the day, but had not run. There 

 was the name on the card "Mr. Newstead's ch. c. Muzzle." 

 What coidd Wennington have meant ? Once more I 

 read out every name on the card, but Newstead was not 

 among the owners of animals in this race, that was 

 certain. It was the most perplexing thing that had ever 

 happened to me, and I watched the struggle, when pre- 

 sently the field started, in a dazed sort of way. A 

 jockey in green and white sleeves won by a neck after a 

 stifiish fight, and I found by the card that the winner 

 belonged to Mr. J. Simons Harrison ; so Wennington was 

 wrong for once, and he was going to have a dash, he 

 said, which I knew meant a big bet. 



' Great was my surprise, therefore, to see him with a 

 beaming countenance as he and Newstead watched the 

 winner being walked away. 



'"I hope you had a good race," Newstead said, in 

 cheery tones. 



' " What price did you get ? " Wennington broke in. 



' " ^^^ly, I had no bet," I began ; " you said " 



' '* No bet ! My dear old boy, why on earth didn't you ? 

 I could not have told you more than I did, and the first 



