a good horse
than anything else in the world; and if he'd got a regular flyer, and
was treated liberal, he'd hardly allow himself sleep or time to eat his
meals till he'd got him near the mark. He could ride, too, and was an
out-and-out judge of pace.

When we'd regular chalked it out about entering Rainbow for the Grand
Turon Handicap, we sent Warrigal over to Billy the Boy, and got him to
look up old Jacob. He agreed to take the old horse, the week before
the races, and give him a last bit of French-polish if we'd keep him in
steady work till then. From what he was told of the horse he expected he
would carry any weight he was handicapped for and pull it off easy. He
was to enter him in his own name, the proper time before the races. If
he won he was to have ten per cent on winnings; if he lost, a ten-pound
note would do him. He could ride the weight with some lead in his
saddle, and he'd never wet his lips with grog till the race was over.

So that part of the work was chalked out. The real risky business was to
come. I never expected we should get through all straight. But the more
I hung back the more shook on it Starlight seemed to be. He was like a
boy home from school sometimes--mad for any kind of fun with a spice of
devilment in it.

About a week before the races we all cleared out, leaving father at
home, and pretty sulky too. Warrigal led Rainbow; he was to take him to
Jonathan Barnes's, and meet old Jacob there. He was to keep him until
it was time to go to Turon. We didn't show there ourselves this time; we
were afraid of drawing suspicion on the place.

We rode right into Turon, taking care to be well after dark. A real
pleasure it was to see the old place again. The crooked streets, the
lighted-up shops, the crowd of jolly diggers walking about smoking, or
crowding round the public-house bars, the row of the stampers in the
quartz-crushing machines going night and day. It all reminded me of the
pleasant year Jim and I had spent here. I wished we'd never had to leave
it. We parted just outside the township for fear of accidents. I went
to a little place I knew, where I put up my horse--could be quiet there,
and asked no questions. Starlight, as usual, went to the best hotel,
where he ordered everybody about and was as big a swell as ever. He had
been out in the north-west country, and was going to Sydney to close for
a couple of stations that had been offered to him.

That night he went to the barber