Ten minutes after they left Toots decided to give
Nemo some water. He stepped out of the stall for a bucket. As he picked it up he fancied he heard a suspicious sound inside the stall, and he hurried back.
When the colored boy stepped into the stall he saw a tough-looking young man in a plaid suit offering Nemo an apple. It was Mike Hogan.
"G'wan frum dat hawse, man!" shouted Toots, as he flung the bucket straight at Mike's head.
The bucket struck Hogan, knocked him down, and he lay stunned almost beneath the feet of Frank Merriwell's racer.
An hour later the starter's flag had fallen and the "free for all" at Mystic Park had begun.
Among the spectators were three lads who were excitedly watching the beginning of the race.
They were Hartwick, Harlow and Harris.
"If that horse is doctored I'm a fool!" declared Harlow, his eyes fastened on Frank Merriwell's Nemo.
"He must be—he must be!" palpitated Hartwick, whose eyes were bloodshot and whose face was flushed so that it betrayed he had been drinking heavily.