6o The Great Downshire Handicap 



mouth of its burrow, and another just runnmg off and 

 disappearing behind a big stone ; some gulls were also 

 scattered here and there, and the whole picture w^as 

 transformed and made interesting to an extent I should 

 not have believed possible. And figures were not wanting 

 in the landscape I have indicated. Two men, mounted 

 on hacks, sat motionless, their eyes fixed on some objects 

 in the distance— four horses, trotting over a rise in the 

 ground which for a moment hides them from view, and 

 before they disappear, their neat appearance, their long 

 tails and something dainty in their action, proclaim them 

 to be what they are — racehorses. 



The two watch the receding thoroughbreds, and the 

 elder of them, Guy Howard, speaks — a man of fifty, but 

 betraying few signs of his age, except a tinge of the grey 

 in his hair and moustache. 



' Of course, it looks good. I had no idea that the 

 handicapper could have let him oft' under 8 st. 12 lb. at 

 least, and he is better than well in with 8 lb. less ; but 

 all the same, I think you are an awful ass, my dear 

 Cecil.' 



' Yes, I know that ; and I know as well as you do 

 that it is idiotic to plunge, and that the best things very 

 often don't come off, for reasons that sometimes you can 

 explain and sometimes you can't — and very often, again, 

 you explain quite incorrectly. It's no good telling me 

 that, because one can't go racing with one's eyes open 

 and not notice it every other week, at least ! You've seen 

 more of the game than I have, but I'm as well aware of 

 all that as you can be,' the younger replied, a serious 

 tone in his voice, and a thoughtful look on his face, 

 which suggested that racing was not altogether a pastime 

 and amusement for him. 



