LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2586, 21 July 1882, Page 4

LITERATURE.

THE RETURN MATCH.

A or a Turf Swindlk, {Concluded,)

Trenholm assured his master that h would use all expedition ; and, leaving Bite in charge, devoted five minutes to a consul tatlcn with the cook, and then set out fo the tiwn. Hia interview with Featherston was brief but de -hive. If there were an; speculation] on the Grerstone Plate as wel as on the Cup, that night, let him get s much on Crowfoot as possible afc_ a pool price, but he was not to speak if ther appeared the least danger of spoiling th market. The 81ider party might be shy Anyhow he was to put the money dowi without flinching at the post, no matter what the price was; end ha (Trenholm) would go as far >s fifty. There were tIC notes. •Oh, there is no occasion for that, Mr Trenholm,' observed the commissioner, with a gentle a'r cf deprecation, accepting the sheaf of rustling paper nevertheless. 'We understand each other. Ton are not going to run away.' ' Never mind. There is nothing like a olesr understanding in these matters. By-the-by, about those birds ? I promised tho squire I would mention them.' 'Don't faßh y<urself, Mr Trenholm. My man must have been at the Hurst a quarter of an hour after you left. You will find that Mrs Roblnsoa has got them trussed by the time ycu get home. But you are Dot going off like that, surely!' Treaholm was not. After refreshing, as suggested, he bade Featheratone good-night, and repaired to Wrightson's. He found that zealous clerk of the courje in consults • tion with tha printer of the tomorrow's card.

•Ah, come In, Trenholm. Tako a ss-.t. There, throw those newspapers on to the floor. We were just mentioning you? name —or rather your master's —before you came in. Mr Yarnold ond several of his friends have bten here looking at the entry for the Oreystone. A shady lot, Trenholm'-a very, very shady lot. Bat that 1b no conoera of ours. We get 'em of all sorts racing, and it is not our business to ccmplain, bo long as we conduit the business of tVe meeting to the satisfaction of the stewards, and avoid objections. Like to look at the card ? What do yon think of that? Beads almost aa well as a York autumn, eh ?' 'ltdoes, indeed, Mr Wrlghtson. Rather a weak entry for the Cup, though 5 but the Gray atone will make up for It.' 'Just what I s»y, Trenholm. Thank* *o Crowfoot and Slider coming together so soon after the Kuddyford mooting, the RedmarEhiil folk will not suffer to morrow for lack of excitement. You tea that three pounds penalty will make it more of a match There is nothing el.<e In the race that can stretch their necks, as far as I can. see. Are you off? Well, give my comp'lmenta to your muter and Sir Thomas Acklam, and you can show them this rough pro- * the card—tell them that there *-

prospect of a rattling goad meetic/g. Miua the stop; and be careful of yourself along the Elton load. Ha, ha ! Mr Yarnold and Company—l suppose "you know they oail him Black Yarnold, nit without good and sufficient reason; I'll be bound. An I was was saying, Mr Yarnold and Company hsve gone in the same direction. Slider and their other horaes are at Tanner'a plaoe. whlob, as you know, is half-way between the town end and the Hnrst. Ah, it's a fine night, bat there are some ragged clouds about the moon that mean mtsohlef Well, we can do with a shower; it will improve the going-Good-night, Trenholm.' BespondiDg to the benfson of the garrulous official with another, Trenholm eet out at a biiak pace homewards. He had no desire for a trotting ; and there was a freshness in the air which painted to an early realisation of VVrlghtson's f orectst. He had accomplished about three-quarters of a mile of his journey when the moon, whose sectional appearances in rifts of clouds of increased density had latterly become rarer, retired entirely from view, and, after a few warning drojs, the rain came down in drenching earnest. Trenholm knew every yard of the road. The shower had caught him within a dozen paces of a gate that opeDed into one of his master's fields. Clambering over with surprising agility for a man of his weight, he sought the partial shelter of a convenient bay-rick, and waited with phlloiophloal patience for the shower to csaso. He heard voices. Some wayfare: s, be'ated like himself, had esoonced themselves at the other Bide of the stack, Taking advantage of the pattering sound of the rain, he crept cautiou-tly iato a rocr.->y cutting which had been ma-ie in the mass of hay, and covered himself with the rushes that had formed the thatch. Even if the moon suddenly re-appeared he was s.fo from observation, It Wfis race lima, and he could not ba too wary. His watch was well worth the attention of any of tho disciples of St. Nioholss who were on tha look on. 1 ; for uaconsidered trifles of that description, to say n thing of the contents of his purse and note case. He ccuched and listened. The voices grew more distinct. He oonld disgulsh the words 'Winpenny,' 'Slider,' 'Crowfoot,' 'won at five furlongs,' 'put the oross on * If he odd have been seen at that dreadful moment his visage would have pressnted a mingled expression of horror and am-zi-ment. He would have given anything to have been able with safetv to indulge in tha relief of speech. A muffled groan was all Itlie eionnd he dared indulge in. He broke profuse perspiration, which became ■■geprofuso the more he listened, Yet ■fey-iot move. Presently the rain Huje moon broke from behind a Then he heard a afterwards, he of I j

do 1 look" r 'As you always do. Miss Blanche ; I 1 adf rather someona else answered the question ;' I suppose Lord Ernect will be one of the', Braokenlea Park party.' ' Now ! If I have told you—but there, T, know I can trust yon, Trenholm You see I am wearing the Buret cdois'—and aha turned archly to show her dress—' although disagreeable papa Is not going to run any thing of ours for the cup. No ; he is not a disagreeable papa. He Is a dear, dear love 1 of a papa. Do ycu know if little Crowfoot wins the Greystone Plate he is going to glvel me—well, I shan't tell you.* j 'But I know, Miss Bianohe.' 1 •You do? Well, then, t:ll ma; will Crowfoot win ?' ' I hope so. Yes, he will win ' (' that is,* ha muttered to himself, 'he will get the stakes'); 'oh, he'll win hard enough ' Trenholm had been looking out of the' window aa he spoke. The tight of Sir Thomas Aoklam making the best of his way towards a plantation of firs, wherein there was a footpath which was a short out to Rod mar shall, hsd inspired the butcher's concluding rama'k. If Mr Freeman and the baronet could not bowl them out, It was a pity! There was a brilliant company In the stewards' stand, declared the I c»l chroniclers ; and the course was (hrcnged with precisely such a numerous company as might have been expeoted to assemble to assist at' the last Redmarshall race-meeting on Braokenlea. The two tug-boats, which had been converted into excursion steamers for the oooasion had delivered huge cargoes of pissengers from Red marsh all, and it was a subject of remark that the roads which converged to a point convenient to the course were never so throrged before. Mr Wrightson was in raptures. The receipts had swollen the exchequer to an extent that made the continuance of the meeting, eleo■" where than at Bratkenlea, a matter of certainty if only another course could be f aund —and that was, after all, very much a quos- , lien of funds. Three races had been de aided, including the Cup, which had fallen to the, favorite, Beetlewing The next was tW Greystone Plate. To the surprise of tb betting men from a distance this apparent! inferior race gave ri»e to more speculatio *han any of those whloh had preceded IPThere were five runners, but only two we fi r supported, as the learned in tmf lore phrase it, ' for money." Mr Yarnold's bay hort Slider, and Mr Winponny'a ohesnut coJ Crowfoot. As coon as the market steadie je down —as the learned would probably har said— it bao;tme obvious that, not withstand ing the favor in which Crowfoot wss locil'; held, the stranger would remain first favorite The Winpenny party were therefore enabley to back Crowfoot at an unexpectedly remi neratlve price. (r Mr Freeman is net in the ring when tl numbers were put up. Neither Is S Thomas Acklaud. Neither is Trenholn Mr Freeman is wandering about in en aioir less sort of way among <t the luxuriant fur: and bracken whloh at the farther tide of tl course forms a shaggy knoll, wherefrom, curious observer armed with just such telescope as that which he oarrles shut up; his pocket would bo ablo to see what w. going on at any given part of the course, atK be unobserved. The baronet sauntering down with the official of the fl; to look at the start- His interest in such e Inferior affair Is incomprehensible. Th will be the eeoond time he has taken a to: of the rough 'sfcob' (or at»ke) whiohdo temporary service in thas furzy ferny hollc for a starting post for the six furlongs. ~ least one half of that end of the course invisible from the stand and judge's bo Trenholm is lying down, somewhere in t! neighborhood, with his eyes fixed steadfast

on the ' stob.' Tha flig is dropped to a go<„ start; Sir Thomas Ack'am finds no fab with It, but immediately follows the fl;i3 field at his briskest pace ; and Wider wir>f Everybody leaves the starting post aorushes towards the riog in time to note t» oheurj of the suddenly bu>side at the words * There is an objection' B don't pay !' |j

No, not everybody. The starting-post _ yet an object of absorbing Interest to n narrud actors in the little drama. Clear • observed by Mr Freeman and Trenholm, t-„

clear it may be for their after comfort, are oout'ld of men, who, alternately creepir. and walking stoopingly, emerge from the ambush of furze and withdraw the ' slob Returning to their |oover, tbey dive swiftrin and out until they arrive at the apt where this rough pieoe of wood had original! stood. la a few sconds the 'post' ! replaced, and Black Yarnold's unscrupuiou agents lounge towards the ring as thoug nothing unusual had oconrred. At the aam time Kalph Freeman, Esq, shats up h. telescope, and moves off in the same direr tion j an example whi jh Trenholm, ihakln himself like a water f*og immediately foliowi By this time the excitement la the ring he reached fever heat. Black Yarnold is fua_ ing and threatening, and his cougenii jockey is using unlovely language. JM 1 Winpenny, who could not make out at fin what it all meant, grasps the situation whel fir Thomas Aoklam, rather blown with hi exertions, enters tha weighing room an orders it to be cleared of alt bat the re' porters and the parties interested in tb" dispute Presently Trenholm, also 'scan. of breath,' appears, and, after him, atlengt" ■Mr ITreoman. Sir Thomas,' obaerved Wrights-.--, Hn™u be good enough l> state yot? < niphatlc terms the baron- . conspiracy. >'rom it received and Hi Ht K In Hb Bw u