338 An Over-reach 



They say I left it too long last time ; well, I shan't leave 

 it too long this ! ' 



' We shall have to let the horse go,' Payne broke in. 

 ' I'm told that that there Lord Cecil thinks something 

 about the last time he was out, so Jack will come along 

 this time ; and there's the excuse, if they say anything, 

 that he didn't make enough use of him before. See ? ' 



' It'll never be in doubt, my boy, and I can tell you 

 I want it. Things have been going very queer of late,' 

 Tomkins rejoined. 



It is curious that the rogue so seldom thrives in the 

 long run. This may be said without depreciating the 

 astuteness of the few ' professional backers ' who furnish 

 exceptions to the rule, though we have the satisfaction 

 of seeing some of the most rascally of these hard hit, and 

 indeed knocked out, at times. Payne and Tomkins had 

 recently found people who played their own game better 

 than they, and had suffered in consequence — and they 

 would indeed have been in a bad way, to the great 

 advantage of the turf, had they not known that Hamlet 

 was a little gold mine. Of the six starters, Beanfeast 

 was a long way second best, even allowing for lack of 

 jockey ship on the part of his owner ; two of the other 

 riders, indeed, were quite as bad as he, and their horses 

 were worse than Harry's, who did go a bit when he had 

 been kept sound enough to do a little work — in fact, the 

 confidence in Hamlet was entirely justified ; and as he 

 cantered to the post, there was a business-like look about 

 him and his jockey which showed why the ring w^ere 

 offering to take odds and were laying 2 to 1 and 5 to 2 

 against Beanfeast, in spite of form that was not ten days 

 old. 



The field were at the post, the flag was up, and down 



