"You are lucky to own such a colt. Where did you pick him up?"
Ulick explained how he came to possess him, and Warren said, grumbling, that some people had all the luck.
"I have been deuced unfortunate of late," he went on, "and a big win is the only way out of the difficulty that I can see. If Sandstone lands the Derby I will have a plunge on your horse. I am much obliged to you for telling me."
"I shall be glad to hear of your winning a good round sum," replied Ulick. "I was sorry to hear you were compelled to part with Holme Farm."
Warren's face clouded. He had heard quite enough about that, and said—
"I don't see what there is to make such a fuss about. Something had to go; why not that part of the estate as well as another?"
"My father says he would have given you half as much again for it."
"I could not have accepted it; he would merely have done it out of kindness."
Ulick thought this probable, and knew his father would do that, and more, for Irene's sake.
The Squire arrived at the Walton, and was feverishly anxious for the Saint's race to be decided. Fred May had sent glowing accounts of the colt's progress, and considered he had a chance second to none.