56 A Good Day 



journey back again. The blue jacket led till they turned 

 the corner, then its bearer dropped back, the other two 

 came on together ; suddenly the rider in the white and 

 scarlet sleeves got up his whip and began to use it ; the 

 jockey in the all scarlet seemed to be regarding his com- 

 panion's proceedings with much interest, but his horse 

 needed no coercion, and, gradually drawing away, got 

 home well clear of his follower. Well, that was all right ! 

 Up went No. 10, and, a good deal better satisfied with 

 myself, I walked over to the coach. 



* "Well, old chap," was Wennington's greeting, as I 

 found him — looking strangely glum, it struck me, and I 

 wondered why he should do so — lighting a cigarette pre- 

 paratory to climbing up to his place, " that's an upset 

 and no mistake ! I thought it was the best thing I had 

 ever known racing. Can't make it out, by Jove ! and 

 confound it, I laid three hundred to one. How many 

 times I've sworn I'd never lay odds ! I'd won just over 

 a monkey, too, on the day. However, one can't always 

 be right ! " 



' " But," I rejoined, in a condition of much surprise, 

 " you won right enough that time, surely ? That was the 

 one you told me to back." His observation was incom- 

 prehensible to me under the pleasing circumstances. 



' '* No, my dear boy. Eoseleaf ! Most certainly it 

 wasn't. I told you I thought it was a certainty for 

 Mainsail— I didn't think Eoseleaf had a hundred to one 

 chance. Surely you never backed the winner ? " 



' " Yes, I did. You never said Mainsail. You said the 

 * Stanton ' horse, and I thought there was a misprint on 

 the card and they had put ' Manton ' instead. You said 

 something about Wadlow, but I made out that he pro- 

 bably trained Eoseleaf. What's a monkey ? " 



