England -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction
"Oh, never you mind, sir," he said. "There are some things it is as well
not to talk about. If you like to turn out to-morrow as soon as it is
light, I think I can show you something worth looking at."
Fielden nodded approvingly. He woke fairly early with the pale dull
light of the wintry morning streaming through his window, crept
downstairs into the deserted hall and let himself out by a side door.
The grey mist hanging over the Downs lifted as the sun began to make his
influence felt. A little later Fielden discerned a group of figures
faintly sketched against the skyline, and could see two horses in their
clothing. Then he picked out the form of Joe Raffle. There was a stretch
of turf between two banks of gorse, and the horses began to move along
the flat expanse. Fielden strolled up to the group, and was amused to
see the suspicious glances turned in his direction.
"That's all right, Mr. Mallow," Raffle muttered. "This gentleman is a
friend of mine. Now, sir, will you go on to the top of the Downs and
wait for us by the boundary stone? That will be the winning post. No
reason, I suppose, to ask you if you know which is the colt and which is
the old horse. That's pretty plain even in this light."
"That's right enough," Fielden smiled.
He walked rapidly towards the improvised winning-post, unslung his
glasses and fixed them steadily upon the little specks in the distance.
Presently they made a move in his direction and grew larger as they came
along. Fielden could hear the thud of hoofs upon the turf. Then they
flashed by him, the old horse lengths ahead. It came as a surprise to
the watcher, for he had expected an entirely different result. What was
Mallow doing? What scheme had that wily man in his brain? Fielden
stepped aside into the gorse, so as to be out of the wind which had
already extinguished two matches he had used in his attempt to light a
cigarette. As he stooped, he heard voices from somewhere close by. The
voices carried clear enough in the silence of the spot, and Fielden
could hear every word. With an instinct of caution which he could not
have explained he crouched down behind the thick shelter of a bush.
He thought he had recognized one of the voices and now he felt sure of
it. It was Raymond Copley beyond a doubt. Who the other man was Fielden
had not the slightest idea.
"Now what does that mean?" Copley was asking.
"What does it mean?" the other man exclaimed with a sneer. "Why, it is
as plain as the nose on your face. I felt certain what was going to
happen when I advised you to come here this morning. The boy told me
there was going to be a trial, and I wanted you to see for yourself. You
are always too sanguine in these matters, Copley, and that's a fact. Now
what do you think of the chances of your friend Sir George's colt?"
"I don't know what to say," Copley muttered. "The colt seemed to be
beaten fairly and squarely. I suppose there is no faking about it."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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