"But couldn't it? Couldn't I wrest one at least from it?—that was what worried me.
"As I pondered, a newspaper boy passed me bearing the placard 'Selections for Lingfield,' and in a flash I bought one. My watch knew who had won! How could I extract that information from it?"
Jack paused.
"Good heavens," I interpolated, "what an extraordinary situation!"
"You may well say so," he said. "You see, if only I could share its knowledge, I should be rich for life; for it was now only a quarter to eleven, and the first race was not till one-fifty, and there was plenty of time to bet.
"But——
"I continued on my way deep in thought," Jack went on, "when whom should I meet but Lisburne? Lisburne is the most ingenious man I know.
"'Come and advise me,' I said, and led him to a quiet corner.
"'It's jolly interesting,' he remarked, when I had finished, 'but of course it's black arts, you know, and we've lost the key nowadays. Still we must try.'
"We discussed the thing every way, in vain.