And the three quitted the grand-stand together in a rather formal
silence. The next race was about to start, and the lawn, with its
forlorn, autumnal flower-beds, was less crowded now as they walked along
it towards the paddock.
“It was very good of you to come and tell us,” said Martin, in English,
“with the whole populace looking on. It will do you no good, you know,
to do a kindness to people under a cloud. I suppose it was true what you
said about the prince being unhurt?”
“Almost,” answered Cartoner. “He is rather badly shaken. I think you
will find it necessary to go home, but there is no need for anxiety.”
“Oh no!” exclaimed Martin. “He is a tough old fellow. You cannot come in
here, you know, Wanda. It is against the Jockey Club laws, even in case
of accidents.”
He stood at the gate of the club enclosure as he spoke.
“Wait here,” he said, “with Cartoner, and I will be back in a few
minutes.”
So Cartoner and Wanda were left in the now deserted paddock, while the
distant roar of voices announced that the start for the next race had
been successfully accomplished.
Wanda looked rather anxiously towards the little square pavilion into
which her brother was hurrying, and Cartoner only looked at Wanda. He
waited till she should speak, and she did not appear to have anything to
say at that moment. Perhaps in this one case that clear understanding
of which she was such a pronounced advocate was only to be compassed by
silence, and not by speech. The roar of voices behind them came nearer
and nearer as the horses approached the winning-post. The members of the
club stood rigid beneath the pavilion awning, some with field-glasses,
others with knitted brows and glittering eyes. All eyes were turned in
one direction, except Wanda's and Cartoner's.
Then, when the race was over and the roar had subsided, Martin came
hurrying back, and one glance at his face told them that there was no
need for anxiety.
“He is laughing in there over a glass of cognac. He refuses absolutely
to go home, and he wants me to help him up the stairs. He will sit under
the awning, he says. And we are to go back to the grand-stand,” Martin
said, as he approached.
“See,” he added, pointing to the paddock where the crowd was hurrying to
gather round the winning horse. “See, it is already a thing of the past.
And he wants it to be so. He wants no fuss made about it. It is no good
advertising the fact of the existence of a dog with a bad name, eh?
Thank you all the same, Cartoner, for your good offices. You and Deulin,
they say, averted a catastrophe. The incident is over, my dear Wanda. It
is forgotten by all except us. Wait here a minute and I will come back
to you.”
With a nod to Cartoner, as if to say, “I leave her to your care,” he
turned and left them again.
Then at length Wanda spoke.
“You see,” she said, “you are not so strong as--”
“As what?” he asked, seeing that she sought a word.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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