Making the Running 261 



Stebbing glanced at his companion out of the corner 

 of his eye, but the result of his scrutiny apparently 

 satisfied him. 



' Difficulty ! ' he rejoined. ' Not if you go the right 

 way to work, and know the ropes. We shan't touch 

 London, very likely, or only for a trifle, at any rate. 

 There's Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Glasgow — 

 we're doing this all over the country, and I wish you'd 

 have your monkey on ; I should like you to have a good 

 win, for I've slipped up with you once or twice ' (thrice, 

 Cecil remembered, but he said nothing), ' and I want 

 you to get it all back with a profit.' 



Cecil, however, was for once firm. A very few months 

 before he would have ventured 2,000/. on such a good 

 thing ; but though he beheved implicitly in this, he had, 

 at the same time, learned that certainties on the turf are 

 very uncertain, and if by any evil chance this should not 

 come off, his balance in St. James's Street would be — 

 the thought caused him a heavy sigh— just 13L T-s. 5J., 

 out of which he had to pay 455/. for debts of honour— a 

 bad look-out ! 



Li spite of good resolutions not to bet, Cecil ventured 

 a fiver on the first hurdle race, landing a 5 to 1 chance, 

 and he put 20/. of his pony on the winner of the 

 steeple-chase at 3 to 1, so that he was a bit in, and asked 

 Stebbing if there was still time — which Stebbing said 

 there was, just— to make the 200/. into 250/. ? On the 

 next hurdle race Cecil did nothing, hearing such con- 

 tradictory accounts that he dared not venture (when he 

 began racing he would have had ponies and fifties on 

 three or four out of the seven starters) ; and then came 

 the flat race, on which he was to retrieve his fallen 

 fortunes. 



