Jessica had lost.
“This time we double,” she said under her breath to Yootha, and pushed more money on to the name from which her former stake had just been raked.
Again the horses spun round; again the croupier droned; again they slowed down—and stopped.
Jessica had lost again.
“Had we better go on?” Yootha asked anxiously. “Or why not try another horse?”
“Nonsense,” Jessica answered impatiently. “You have lost only a trifle. I have lost fifty pounds. Now watch.”
She backed the same horse again, and this time the heap of notes was much bigger. The race started. For more than a minute the little horses kept changing their positions, then they moved slower and finally stopped.
Yootha uttered an exclamation of delight. The horse Jessica had backed had won!
A great pile of money, as it seemed to the girl, was pushed towards Jessica by the croupier, and at once she passed some of the pile towards her.
The next time the horses started the sum staked by Jessica was much bigger, and she won again. Again she staked, and again she won; and again; and yet again. The crowd gathered about the table began to murmur. It grew excited when Jessica, backing different animals, won three times more in succession.