272 Making the Running 



also — indeed, ' savage ' hardly expresses his condition 

 of wrath. 



'You ought to have won in a walk,' he exclaimed, 

 angrily. ' I hope you don't expect to get a hundred out 

 of me for that exhihition ! ' 



' I do, though ! ' Bedford answered. 



' Then you won't ! ' was the reply. 



Bedford, however, did not seem to be very much put 

 out at his failure, and the reason why might have been 

 gathered from a conversation which took place a few 

 minutes afterwards in a secluded corner of the paddock. 

 Having put a covert coat on over his jacket, he strolled 

 out of the dressing-room, and was casually joined by a 

 friend. They walked on without speaking a word or 

 making a sign till they were quite free from neighbours, 

 and then, each looking at the other out of the corner of 

 his ej^e, a smile which developed into a chuckle over- 

 spread both their faces. 



' That's about the best thing I ever knew in my life ! 

 What a joke — and a deuced profitable one, too ! ' said the 

 friend. 



' Yes, but it was all I could do to get him to beat 

 me at the finish. The idiot was waiting for me to 

 come up. No one said anything, I suppose "? ' Bedford 

 inquired. 



' Oh, yes, they said lots of things — that you weren't 

 fit to ride a donkey race, wanted to be clever and win a 

 head, and so got done, and it served you right. You're 

 the worst judge of pace that ever got on a horse, and an 

 ass generally.' 



Bedford was far from being annoyed. He laughed 

 heartily, indeed, at these severe reflections on his skill as 

 a horseman. 



