At Euston it was evident something out of the way was forward. There was hardly a crowd at the station, but expectant folk were gathered here and there in knots and there were more police than usual about.
The secret was soon out.
Jaggers, with the air of the Grand Inquisitor, appeared on the platform with his head-lad, Rushton. The trainer entered into talk with a man whom Albert informed his mistress was a cop in plain clothes.
"Place swarms with 'em," the youth whispered. "And Ikey's Own. They're takin' no chances."
In fact, Mocassin and her two stable-companions were travelling on the same train as the Putnam horse.
As Albert remarked, not without complacency:
"One thing. If there's a smash we're all in it."
At Aintree the crowd, which somehow always knows, had gathered to see the crack. They didn't see much but four chestnut legs and a long tail; but what they saw was enough to satisfy them. You could swaddle her like a corpse from muzzle to hocks, and from withers to fetlock, but the Queen of Kentucky's walk was not to be mistaken. And as she came out of her box on to the platform, treading daintily, the little gathering raised the familiar slogan that told she was betrayed.
Boy let the favourite get well away before she unboxed her horse. There was nobody about by then but a small urchin who jeered:
"Say, lydy! is yon what they call a camel-leopard?"