As they moved toward the Secretary's office, Porter was accosted by his trainer.
“The Stewards want to speak to you, sir,” said Dixon.
“All right. Send a boy over to this man's stable for Lauzanne--I've bought him.”
“I'll give you the check when I come back,” Porter continued, speaking to Langdon.
“There's trouble on, sir,” said Dixon, as they moved toward the Stewards' box.
“There always is,” commented Porter, dryly.
“The Stewards think Lucretia didn't run up to her form. They've had me up, an' her jock, McKay, is there now. Starter Carson swears he couldn't get her away from the post--says McKay fair anchored the mare. He fined the boy fifty dollars at the start.”
“I think they've got the wrong pig by the ear--why don't they yank Langdon? he's at the bottom of it. It a pretty rich, Andy, isn't it? They hit me heavy over the race, and now they'd like to rule me off for that thief's work,” and he jerked his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of Langdon.
“Yes, racin's hell now,” commented Dixon with laconic directness. “It seems just no use workin' over a good horse when any mut of a crook who is takin' a turn at plungin' can get at the boy. I believe Boston Bill's game of gettin' a straight boy to play, an' lettin' the horses go hang, is the proper racket.”
“Yes, a good boy is better than a good horse nowadays; but they're like North Poles--hard to come by.”
“Some mug give the Stewards a yarn that you'd bought Lauzanne, sir, an' sez that's why you didn't win with the mare.”
Porter stopped, and gasped in astonishment. What next?
“You see,” continued Dixon, apologetically, “I didn't know you was meanin' to buy that skate, so I says it was all a damned lie.”
“Of course not--I didn't mention it to you--it was all a fluke. But I don't blame you, Andy. I'll go and talk to the Stewards--they're all right; they only want to get at the truth of it.”
As Porter went up the steps of the Stewards' Stand, he felt how like a man mounting a scaffold he was, an innocent man condemned to be hanged for another's crime.
The investigation had been brought about by a note one of the Stewards had received. The sender of the missive stated in it that he had backed Lucretia heavily, but had strong reasons for believing there was a job on. The backer was a reliable man and asked for a fair run for his money. The note had come too late--just as the horses were starting--to be of avail, except as a corroboration of the suspicious features of the race. Starter Carson's evidence as to McKay's handling of the mare coincided with the contents of the note. Then there was the fact of Porter's having bought Lauzanne. The Stewards did not know the actual circumstances of the sale, but had been told that Lucretia's owner had acquired the Chestnut before the race. Where all was suspicion, every trivial happening was laid hold of; and Alan's trifling bet on Lauzanne had been magnified into a heavy plunge--no doubt the father's money had been put up by the boy. A race course is like a household, everything is known, absolutely everything.