Dalton had done some desperate deeds in his time, but since his illness he seemed to have changed for the better.
'It will not last long. He is certain to break out again,' said Dr Tom, and he was right.
Abe Dalton entered a half-bred horse called The Captain for the cup, and two others in minor races.
No one knew much about The Captain, and when it came to handicapping him there was a difficulty.
The committee did the work of adjusting the weights, and great arguments they had over it at Dr Tom's house.
'If we accept Dalton's entries, as I take it we must, his horses shall be fairly weighted,' said the doctor.
'How can we weight a horse we know nothing about?' said the chairman. 'I say, give The Captain top weight, and if Abe Dalton does not like it let him do the other thing.'
'But The Captain is only a three-year-old. We ought not to give him top weight,' said the doctor.
'Some horses are better at three years than at any other age,' was the reply.
'The lowest weight is to be seven stone,' said Dr Tom; 'and I think if we say nine stone seven for top weight that will leave a sufficient margin.'