“They didn’t do a very heavy business,” responded Guy. “Lob Lolly subscribed three hundred. Hobble de Hoy collected two-fifty. Belden lost like leaking. De Châteaunéant was collecting pretty well, till Sir Com Ambient came in and sat down opposite; then he seemed to get flustrated, subscribed once or twice, and went away.”
“What an astonishing feller that Belden is!” said Cloanthus. “There he comes in on Knockknees, and we’ve only just grubbed.”
Belden gave his horse to Figgins and lounged up the steps. He affected a dignified indifference with the younger men generally, but this morning he was quite gracious. They were discussing the preliminaries of the race. They had talked of a steeple-chase, but the riders did not come forward very freely, and they had determined to have a formal race; mile heats on the second beach, best two in three, free to all ages, no handicap—in short, a kind of scrub race.
While they were talking it over, Chin Chin brought up Pallid. Mr. Waddy was going for a morning ride with Clara and Diana. There were divers opinions on Pallid’s merits. Some of them said he was too handsome to make time—“a good un to go should always be a bad un to look at,” and there were instances enough on this side. There were also abundant instances on the other. In short, no one had seen him put to his speed, and none could do more than conjecture how low he would go down in the seconds. A very few seconds make the great differences in horses, as the minor, imperceptible charms distinguish between the few beautiful and the many pretty among women. It was conceded that it was a sin to race on the beach. “The horses’ feet will be ruined; the beach is as hard as Macadam.” But they had determined to do it. There was an éclat about the beach that no other place could have.
Belden said that Pallid was a very fine animal—the handsomest horse he knew—very fast, too; very fast. He was surprised that Mr. Waddy had not entered him. Perhaps Mr. Waddy did not want to win their money—very likely! He couldn’t know, of course, anything about the comparative powers of the two horses, but if Pallid were in the race, he wouldn’t fear to back his horse against him for a thousand.
“Do you mean that for an offer?” asked Major Granby, joining the group.
“I would make it one if the horse were in the race,” answered Belden.
“This is getting interesting,” said Peter Skerrett; “and just in time here comes Dunstan, and Mr. Waddy to speak for himself.”
The boys crowded round Mr. Waddy to persuade him to enter his horse. Guy and Clo wished to see Belden beat; he had scoffed at them for being imberb.
“Of course,” said Mr. Waddy, “anything to please the children; but I can’t ride him myself. I carry too much weight for a race. Pallid’s only five. I say, Dunstan, don’t you want to ride him? You are just my height—five feet ten—but then I outweigh you fifteen pounds—two pounds a year for the difference in our ages.”