I had gone down in evening-clothes by an evening train, but had
carefully overshot old landmarks, and alighted at a small station
some miles south of the one where I was still remembered. This
committed me to a solitary and somewhat lengthy tramp; but the
night was mild and starry, and I marched into it with a high
stomach; for this was to be no costume crime, and yet I should
have Raffles at my elbow all. the night. Long before I reached my
destination, indeed, he stood in wait for me on the white highway,
and we finished with linked arms.
"I came down early," said Raffles, "and had a look at the races. I
always prefer to measure my man, Bunny; and you needn't sit in the
front row of the stalls to take stock of your friend Guillemard.
No wonder he doesn't ride his own horses! The steeple-chaser isn't
foaled that would carry him round that course. But he's a fine
monument of a man, and he takes his troubles in a way that makes me
blush to add to them."
"Did he lose a horse?" I inquired cheerfully.
"No, Bunny, but he didn't win a race! His horses were by chalks
the best there, and his pals rode them like the foul fiend, but with
the worst of luck every time.
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