Evening star., 1902-08-23
CHAPTER VII.

When a man strives against fate, when
realization laughs mockinSly at his eXpec-
tation. there comes to him q time when he
longs for breathing spell-when he knows
that ne must rest and wait until the wheel
Of life slow-turning. has passed a little
through the groove of his existence.
John Porter had been beaten down at
every point. Disastrous years come to ali
men. whether they race horses or point the
truthful way. and this year had been but
a series Of disappointineats to the master
of RingwOod.
After Lucretia's win in the Eclipse, Por-
ter did rot land another race. Lucretia
caught Geld and went off-this was bit
ter disappointment. He tried Lauzanne
twice again. but the chestnut seemed thor
oughly soured. Now he was back at Ring
wood a dark cloud of Indebtedness hanging
over the beautiful place, and prospect of
relief a shadowy child of the future II
LucretIa wintersd well and grew big ana
strong, she might extricate him from his
difficulties by winning one or two of the
big races the following summer. About
any of the other horses there was not even
this much of tangibility.
Thoroughly distrusting Lausanne, en-
bittered by his COwardice, Porter had given
him away-but to Allis.
Strangely enough the girl had taken
strong liking to the son of Lazzarone; 1t
may nave Deen because OF INe leGIillS lIdl
She was indirectly responsible for his pres
ence at RingwoOd. Allis Porter's percep-
ticns had been developed TO an eXtraordi-
nary degree. All her life she had lived sur
rounded by thoroughbreGs. and her sensi-
tive nature went out to them, in their
courage and loyalty, in manner quite be-
yond possibility in practical. routine-fOi-
lowing hOrseman To her they were al
most human: the play of their minds was
as attractive and interesting as the devel-
Opment of their muscles was to trainer.
When the stable had been taken back TO
RingwoOd she had asked for Lauzanne as
a riding horse.
I m going to give him away her father
had reglied: Il can't sell him-robody
would buy brute with such a reputation
This word brought to Porter's mind his
chief cause of resentment against the
chestnut. The public having got into its
head that Porter was playing cOups, gen
eroUSly suggested that he was pulling
LauzannA TO get him in some big handicap
Light.
II won't feed such a skate all winter"
he declared. angrily. after a little pause.
We'll. give him to me, then. father"
the girl had pleaded; Il am certain that
he II make good some day. You'n see that
he II pay you for keeping Your word
A AiliS rode Lausanne she discovered
many things about the horse; that instead
Of being a stupid morose brute, his intel
hscnce was extraordinary: and, with her
al least. his temper perfect.
Alis' relationship with her father was
unusual. They were chums; in all his
trouble. in all his moments of wavering
bufeted by the waves of disaster Allis
was the one who cheered him. who regirt
him in his armor-AIlis. the slight. olive
faced little woman, with the big, fearless,
Joan Of Arc eyes.
'Youn see what We'll do next summer.
dad she said. chCeriy. You'll win with
I-Hcr"ttA as often as Won did with her
mother: and III win with Lauzanne. Well
lust keep quiet till spring, then we'll show
1t was like a kitten carving a CITY on
lis back; but still it was the hope of en-
deavoI.
LaEsdon's horses. so silently controlled
by Philip Crane. banker. had been nut in
winter quarters at Gravesend, where Lang
don had cottage
Cranes racing season had been as sue
ceSSfUl as the master of Ringwood's had
been disastrous. He had won n fair-class
race with the Dutchman-ostensibIy Lang
donS horSe-and then. holding true to his
nature. which was to hasten slowly threw
MIN out OF training. and deliberately
planned big coup for the next year. The
colt was engaged in several three-year-old
stakes. and Crane set LangIon TO work to
md out his capabilities AS his owner ex-
peGted, he showed them in a severe trial
Eal"D the true Hanover staying-pCWer
Although Crane had said nothing about
IL at the time he had his eye on the East
ern Derby when he commissioned Iangdon
10 purchase this gallant son of Hanover
N,
plans to win race the following June,
nut that was the essence of Cranes exist
ence. careful planning. He loved II He
was master at it, And, after all. given a
S"od St"Eer such as he had in the Dutch
man the mile-and-a-half run Of the Derby
!eit less to chance than any other stake
ne could have pitched upon: the result
would depend absolutely upon the class and
stamina of the horses. No bad start cou1d
upset his calculations no little interfer
ence IN the race could destroy his horses
chance. II he were good enough to win
me butchman's races. As a two-year-old
would not vIrrant his being made a favor
ne and Langdon. properly directed. was
cieFer enough To see that the Dutchman
purposes. ''s
Many things had crowded into this
fortteth year of Cranes life. The hank
doing but modest business always was
running so smoothly that 1t required lit
tie attention from the owner This was
one reason why he had thrown so much
subtle energy into his racing; its specuIa
tion appealed to him. The plucking he had
received as moneyed youth rankled in his
heart. The possession of such a fai-bF,,I
1ackal as Langdon carried him To preater
lengths than he would have gone had the
obnoxious details been subject TO his own
tAeSuuoh- Though constituencies he was
more or less fastidiOuS. Had a borsa
broken down and become utterly useless
ne would have ordered him to be destroved
W!thont experiencing anv feeling Of com
Ps'SSiot4-ilt WouLu nave dismissed the mat
yer entirely from his mind with the mass
ing or the command; but, rather than de-
sroy the horse himself. he probably woIId
have fed him And so it was with men
II tHey We're driven to the wall because
OF his plans. that. was their own lockout.
II did not trouble Philip Crane
Porter he had known simply in busi-
ness way From the first he had felt that
Rlrgwood would pass out of its owners
possession. ard he had begun to covet it
D. Ine Lausanne race had been Langdon's
pIdnhing altogether Crane, cold-blooded
as Re was. would not have robbed a man
ne had business dealings with deliberately.
ne had told his trainer to win. if possible
race with Lauzanne. and get rid Of him.
Ihat l-angdon's villainous scheme had
borne evil fruit for John Porter was pure
" a matter of chance selection. There
was a Mephistophelean restitution In not
surviving TO wrest the Eclipse from Lucretia
with the Dutchman.
And now. IN this fOrtieth year had come
ine entirely new experience OF an affec-
uon-his admiration for Allis Porter II
connected with every other emotion that
governed his being. All his life he had
been selhsh-considering only Philip Crane
his mind embarrassed by anything but busi-