lay against her an' back your
horse."

"I wish the old man wasn't so devilish deep; he makes me tired
sometimes; gives it to me straight in one breath that he's got reasons
for wantin' to win the race, an' then he pulls that preacher mug of
his down a peg an' says, solemn like: 'But don't interfere with their
jockey.' Then he talks about The Dutchman or Lucretia gettin' the
influenza, an' that Andy Dixon is pretty fly about watchin' the mare.
Now what do you make of all that, Jake?"

"Well, you area mug. It don't need no makin' up. That book's all rounded
to. He wants the mare stopped, an' don't want no muddlin' about with the
jockey, see? Wasn't there a row over stoppin' Lucretia last year? Wasn't
the boy set down for the meetin'? You ought to know; you had to pay
through the nose for shuttin' his mouth. But what made the old man talk
about the mare gettin' sick?"

Langdon searched his memory; just how was that subject started? "Damn
it! yes, of course; I told him about the two-year-old havin' the
influenza."

"Well, Dick, my boy, you've guessed it, though you weren't trying. Crane
would like to see the Porter mare coughin'."

"But you can't take a strange horse into their stable, an' him sick,"
objected the Trainer.

"Right you are, Dick. But you could take the sickness there, if you had
a boy with the sabe."

"I was thinkin' of that," said Langdon, reflectively; "I was wonderin'
if that's what the Boss meant."

"Sure thing--that's his way; he never wants to stand in for none of the
blame, but he likes to feel sure that he's goin' to win."

"It looks a bit like it, damn me if it don't; an' I believe he was
givin' me a pointer about the proper boy for the job, too. He said
Shandy would get at a horse quick enough if he was paid for it."

"There you are; what more do you want? Would you have Crane get out on
the housetop an' shout to you to go an' cruel Porter's mare? He's slick,
he is, an' if it can be done you've got a great chance."

"I'm a poor man," whined Langdon, "an' I can't take no chances on
loosin' ten thousand, if it can be helped."

"It's got to be done right away, 'cause it'll take a couple of days to
get the mare coughin'."

"I told Shandy to come here," said the Trainer; "he ought to be turnin'
up soon. When you hear him knock, just slip into that other room, an'
leave the door open a little so that you can hear what takes place. God
knows what that young imp wouldn't swear if a fellow h