"Is it a lottery? Tell me we're all rich men," and he felt himself grasped in O'Toole's arms.
"I'll tell you more wonderful things than that," stammered Wogan, "when you have shown me the way to a stable."
"There's one at the back of the house," said Gaydon. "I'll take the horse."
"No," said Wogan, stubbornly, and would not yield the bridle to Gaydon.
O'Toole nodded approval.
"There are two things," said he, "a man never trusts to his friends. One's his horse; t' other's his wife."
Wogan suddenly stopped and looked at O'Toole. O'Toole answered the look loftily.
"It is a little maxim of philosophy. I have others. They come to me in the night."
Misset laughed. Wogan walked on to the stable. It was a long building, and a light was still burning. Moreover, a groom was awake, for the door was opened before they had come near enough to knock. There were twelve stalls, of which nine were occupied, and three of the nine horses stood ready saddled and bridled.
Wogan sat down upon a corn-bin and waited while his mare was groomed and fed. The mare [pg 114] looked round once or twice in the midst of her meal, twisting her neck as far as her halter allowed.