sked.

It was explained to her.

"How much--a hundred to one!"

"No; not that!"

"You 're learning," laughed her friends.

"There! they 're off. Here they come!" buzzed the crowd, as the flag at
last fell, and they came up the field, a dozen in all, two in the lead,
then a half-dozen together in a bunch, and two or three behind, one
in the rear of all. Old Robin's heart dropped as the cry went up: "The
countryman 's left. It 's yellow-jacket!" It was too far off for him to
see clearly, but the laughter about him was enough.

"That boy don't know how to ride. What did they put him in for?" they
said.

A minute later, however, the tone changed. The country boy was coming
up, and was holding his horse in, too. The riders were settling
themselves and spreading out, getting their horses in hand for the long
gallop.

In fact, the old trainer's last piece of advice to his young pupil was
worthy of a Delphic track,

"Don' let 'em lef you; but don't let 'em wind you. Don't git so far
behind 't folks 'll think you 's ridin' in de next race; but save him
for de last half-mile. You 'll have plenty o' room den to let him out,
an' de track 's mighty heavy. Watch Hurricane an' Fightin' Creek. Keep
nigh 'em, but save him, an' look out for de Liverpool."

It was on this advice that the young rider was acting, and though he was
in the rear at the start he did not mind it. He saw that two or three
riders were trying to set the pace to kill off the other horses, and he
held his horse in, picking his ground.

So they passed two or three fences, the horses in the same order, and
came toward the water-jump in front of the stands. It was a temptation
to rush for it, for the safest chance was in front, and the eyes of
thousands were on them. Some of the riders did rush, and the leaders
got over it well; but in the bunch two horses struck and went down,
one going over and turning a complete somersault on the other side,
the other from a false take-off falling back on the near side, with his
rider almost under him, immediately in front of young Johnston's horse.
Whether it was the fall of the two horses with the splash of the water
in the ditch beyond, or whether it was the sudden twitch that Johnston
gave his bridle to turn the brown as the horse and rider rolled almost
immediately before him, or whether it was all these taken together, the
brown horse swerved and refused turning entirely back, while the rest of
the field swept on