"Not I," he said, "I leave that to Jasper--I call him my walking
account-book. I'm sorry you fellows were let in though; I can't
understand it; although"--with a rueful laugh--"I suppose it was my
fault with that tenner. Yet, I must say, I noticed the man as he
galloped past, and saw no, signs of anything wrong."
"Nor I," put in Vermont. "I was in the weighting-room, and saw him
scaled. He was all right then. He always was white and seedy-looking. I
saw nothing wrong."
"Nor I," echoed the others.
Adrien lit another cigar, and the light fell full on his grave face.
"The losses are heavy all round; yet, speaking for myself," he said, "I
would have rather dropped treble the amount than that poor fellow should
have lost his life by a horse of mine."
"His own fault. It was absolutely a case of suicide," declared Lord
Standon angrily. "He put the 'King' to that last hurdle half a minute
too soon. The horse was not to blame; he would have taken the hedge, and
another on top of that, but for that unlucky spurt. 'Pon my soul," he
concluded hotly, "if I didn't know how well he'd been cared for, I
should have said it was done on purpose!"
Unlucky youth! he little knew the harm he had done his empty pockets by
this rash speech.
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