him
up somewhere. Perhaps he could be got at; that would simplify matters
greatly.

The morning after her fast work on Lauzanne, Allis, draped as she was
into the personification of Al Mayne, arrived at the course before their
horses. As she was leaning over the paddock rail waiting for Lauzanne
to come, Langdon, who had evidently determined upon a course of action,
sauntered up carelessly to the girl and commenced to talk. After a free
preliminary observation he said, "You're the boy that's ridin' for Andy
Dixon, ain't you?"

The small figure nodded its head.

"I seen you gallop that Chestnut yesterday. Where you been ridin--you're
a stranger here, I reckon?"

"Out West," answered Allis, at a hazard.

"Oh, San Francisco, eh? Are you engaged to Dixon?"

"I'm just on trial."

"Goin' to ride the Chestnut in the race?"

Again the boy nodded; under the circumstances it wasn't wise to trust
too much to speech.

"He ain't no good--he's a bad horse. I guess I've got the winner of that
race in my stable. If he wins, I'd like to sign you for a year. I like
the way you ride. I ain't got no good lightweight. I might give you a
thousand for a contract, an' losin' and winnin' mounts when you had a
leg up. How do you like ridin' for Dixon?" he continued, the little chap
not answering his observations.

"I ain't goin' to ride no more for him after this race," answered the
other, quite truthfully enough, but possessed of a curiosity to discover
the extent of the other's villainy.

"I don't blame you. He's no good; he don't never give his boys a chance.
If you win on the Chestnut, like as not they'll just give you the
winnin' mount. That ain't no good to a boy. They ain't got no money,
that's why. The owner of my candidate, The Dutchman, he's a rich man,
an' won't think nothin' of givin' a retainer of a thousand if we won
this race. That'll mean The Dutchman's a good horse, and we'll want a
good light boy to ride him, see?"

Allis did see. Langdon was diplomatically giving her as A1 Mayne to
understand that if she threw the race on Lauzanne, she would get a place
in their stable at a retainer of a thousand dollars.

"We can afford it if we win the race," he continued, "for we stand a big
stake. Come and see me any time you like to talk this over."

After he had gone, just as Allis was leaving the rail, she was again
accosted; this time by Shandy. She trembled an instant, fearing that the
small red-lidded ferret eyes w