on him. For instance, Mynheer van de Werff, you may
have noticed the dreadful position in which the brute put me towards the
end of the race. There are certain things that this horse always shies
at, and one of them is a red cloak. Now I don't know if you saw that
a girl in a red cloak suddenly appeared on the bank. In an instant the
beast was round and you may imagine what my feelings were, being in
charge of your fair kinswoman, for I thought to a certainty that we
should be over. What is more, it quite spoilt my chance of the race,
for after he has shied like that, the black turns sulky, and won't let
himself go."

When Lysbeth heard this amazing explanation, remembering the facts, she
gasped. And yet now that she came to think of it, a girl in a red cloak
did appear near them at the moment, and the horse _did_ whip round as
though it had shied violently. Was it possible, she wondered, that the
captain had not really intended to foul the Badger sledge?

Meanwhile Van de Werff was answering in his slow voice. Apparently he
accepted Montalvo's explanation; at least he said that he, too, saw
the red-cloaked girl, and was glad that nothing serious had come of the
mischance. As regarded the proposed deal, he should be most happy to
go into it upon the lines mentioned, as the grey, although a very good
horse, was aged, and he thought the barb one of the most beautiful
animals that he had ever seen. At this point, as he had not the
slightest intention of parting with his valuable charger, at any rate on
such terms, Montalvo changed the subject.

At length, when men, and, for the matter of that, women, too, had well
eaten, and the beautiful tall Flemish glasses not for the first time
were replenished with the best Rhenish or Spanish wines, Montalvo,
taking advantage of a pause in the conversation, rose and said that he
wished to claim the privilege of a stranger among them and propose a
toast, namely, the health of his late adversary, Pieter van de Werff.

At this the audience applauded, for they were all very proud of the
young man's success, and some of them had won money over him. Still
more did they applaud, being great judges of culinary matters, when
the Spaniard began his speech by an elegant tribute to the surpassing
excellence of the supper. Rarely, he assured them, and especially did he
assure the honourable widow Van Ziel (who blushed all over with pleasure
at his compliments, and fanned herself with such vigou