d do
that much. She was givin' him a little weight, too."

"Well, we can't help it. I've backed The Dutchman to win a small
fortune, and I'm going to stand by it. You're in it to the extent of ten
thousand, as you know, and we've just got to try and beat her with our
colt; that's all there is to it."

"I don't like it," muttered Langdon, surlily. "She's a mighty good
three-year-old to put up a race like that."

"She may go off before Derby day," suggested Crane; "mares are uncertain
at this time of year."

"That's just it; if she would go off we'd feel pretty sure then. I think
the race is between them."

"Well, we'll know race day; if she goes to the post, judging from what
you say, it'll be a pretty tight fit."

"She didn't cut much figure last year when Lauzanne beat her." Langdon
said this with a drawling significance; it was a direct intimation that
if Lucretia's present jockey could be got at, as her last year's rider
had been--well, an important rival would be removed.

Crane had not been responsible for the bribing of Lucretia's jockey,
though he was well aware what had occurred; had even profited by it.

"There'll be no crooked work this time," he said; "nobody will interfere
with the mare's rider, I hope," and he looked significantly at Langdon.

"I don't think they will," and the Trainer gave a disagreeable laugh.
"From what Shandy tells me, I fancy it would be a bad game. The truth of
the matter is that gosling Redpath is stuck on the gal."

Crane's pale face flushed hot.

"I believe that Shandy you speak of is a lying little scoundrel. I have
an idea that he wrote me a note, a wretched scrawl, once. Wait, I've got
it in my pocket; I meant to speak to you about it before."

Crane drew from the inner pocket of his coat a leather case, and after
a search found Shandy's unsigned letter, and passed it over to the
Trainer.

"It's dollars to doughnuts Shandy wrote it. Let me keep this, sir."

"You're welcome to it," answered Crane; "you can settle with him. But
about the Derby, I have reasons for wishing to win that race, reasons
other than the money. I want to win it, bad. Do you understand?"

"I think I do. When you say you want to win a race, you generally want
to win it."

"Yes, I do. But see here, Langdon, just leave their jockey to take
orders from his own master, see?"

"I wasn't goin' to put up no game with him, sir."

"Of course not, of course not. It wouldn't do. He's a straight boy