ousehold
with his presence. The acquiring of Diablo would facilitate that.

Diablo--a skate! He laughed to himself over his purchase. Certainly
Langdon would laugh at him, too; not openly, of course; Crane wouldn't
tolerate that. What an influence this girl had over him, to be sure! Any
man who had endeavored to sell him a bad horse would have had a hopeless
task; with but a nod of encouragement from Allis he would have bought
every horse--all the useless crooks they had; the stable was full of
them, Lauzanne among the rest.

The influence was dividing his nature into a dual one; starting into
life infantile thoughts of a generous morality; an unrest of great
vigor was coming to him, retribution; possibly the power to feel the
difference between an avariciousness, fathering dishonesty, and this new
recognition of other rights.

On his arrival in New York he sent for his trainer.

"I bought a horse at Ringwood. I want you to look after him, Langdon,"
he said. "Their man, Gaynor, will send him direct to your stables."

The Trainer's face brightened. "Did you get Lucretia after all?"

"No; I bought a big black, Diablo."

The look of delight faded from Langdon's eyes quickly. "The devil!" he
exclaimed.

"That's what I said; that's his name."

"But he's the most uncertain brute that ever wore a set of plates.
You'll get no good of him, sir; he's bad, clean through. It's come down
to him from his second sire, Robert the Devil, without a bit of the
good, either. He'd break a man that would follow him."

"He won't break me," answered Crane, quietly; "nor you, either,
Langdon--you've got too much sense."

This subtle tribute mollified the Trainer.

Crane proceeded: "I remember the horse quite well. Four thousand was
paid for him as a yearling; as a two-year-old he was tried out good
enough to win the Futurity; but when it came to racing he cut it and
finished in the ruck."

"That's right," commented Langdon. "He owes me a good bit, that same
Johnny; his people thought him a lead-pipe cinch, and I went down the
line on him to my sorrow."

"Just so. You know him as well as I do. It's a great way to get
acquainted with them, isn't it, Langdon; put your money on, and have the
good thing go down?"

Langdon had the highest possible opinion of his master's astuteness and
began to waver in his antipathy to Diablo.

"You think he's really good, then, sir; did he show you a fast trial?"

"I didn't even see the horse,