Part 10 (2/2)

Joe jumped out. ”h.e.l.lo, Alec. h.e.l.lo, Mr. Dailey. I was over this way covering a story and thought I'd drop in and see how you were doin' with that wild stallion of yours.”

”He's okay now.” Alec grinned proudly.

”Still keeps us on our toes, though,” Henry said. ”There he is out in the field now.” He pointed to the Black.

Alec whistled. ”I'll give you a closeup of him, Joe,” he said.

The stallion ran toward them. He reared when he saw Joe, and rushed down the field again. ”Guess he's forgotten me.” Joe laughed.

Alec whistled again and the Black whirled and came back. Alec grabbed him by the halter.

”Boy! I knew I wasn't seeing things that night-he sure is the biggest horse I've ever seen!” Joe whistled admiringly.

”Fastest horse you've ever seen, too,” said Alec proudly.

”Faster than Sun Raider and Cyclone?” kidded Joe.

”Beat both of 'em,” Henry said.

Joe laughed. ”Say, you guys sound serious! Here people all over the country are arguing about who's the fastest horse in the country-Sun Raider or Cyclone, and you say your horse can beat them both. Better not let anyone hear you say it!”

”It's the truth, Joe,” Alec said. ”We've been racing-” He stopped and looked at Henry.

”It's all right, Alec,” Henry said. ”Guess it doesn't make much difference now who we tell; we can't race him anyway.”

Joe looked from Alec to Henry. ”You mean to tell me you've been racing him?”

”In a way,” Alec answered. ”We've been taking him over to Belmont at night and giving him some workouts.”

”And let me tell you, sir,” Henry broke in, ”no horse ever ran around that track like this fellow did. We clocked him; there wasn't any guesswork.”

”You see,” Alec said, ”we had planned to run him in some big races. I was going to ride-but we weren't able to get his pedigree. We wrote to Arabia trying to get it, but it was impossible. We didn't know much about him, only the port where he got on the boat. And you can't run a horse in a race without his being registered.”

”Yeah, that's right,” muttered Joe, ”and while the Black looks like a thoroughbred, he is certainly too wild to have ever been brought up like one!”

”I guess that just about washes us up as far as racing goes, but we still know he's the fastest horse around!” Henry said.

Joe scratched his head. ”You're sure he's as fast as you say he is?” Joe asked.

”Sure, I'm sure,” replied Henry. ”Why?”

”Well, I know of one race that he wouldn't need to be registered for.”

”Some county fair?” Henry laughed.

”No-the match race between Sun Raider and Cyclone!”

”But that's impossible,” Henry said.

”Nothing is impossible these days,” Joe said. ”But whether we could get him in or not, it wouldn't be his lack of registration papers that would keep him out. You see, that's a special match race-it isn't held at any race meeting. It's just like me racing you to see which one of us can run faster. They rent the track, bring the horses and away they go! All you have to do is get the other owners to let you run the Black in the race!”

”Yeah, that's all,” Henry said, ”and I still say it's practically impossible!”

”There's a slim chance, though, Henry,” Alec said eagerly.

”You said it, kid.” Joe grinned.

”How do you think we could work it, Joe?” Henry asked.

”I dunno-but you know I work on the same paper with Jim Neville, and he's the guy that started all this; he might help us some way.”

”Perhaps if you told him about the Black ...” suggested Alec.

”Maybe,” answered Joe. ”He's crazy about horses, and doesn't think that there's any horse in the world that can beat Cyclone, even Sun Raider. He'd probably think I was nuts if I told him I knew of a horse that could beat 'em both.” He paused. ”You're sure that the Black can?”

Henry smiled. ”Yeah, Joe, I'm sure,” he said, ”but seeing that you're kinda skeptical, why don't you come over some night when we run him? Sure, and bring Jim Neville along, too; then he will have something to write about!”

”Not a bad idea, Henry,” Joe answered. ”I'll get in touch with Jim this afternoon. When you going to run the Black again?”

”Tomorrow night,” Alec answered.

”If you can make it, you can meet us at the main gate at two o'clock,” Henry said.

”Say, this is just like a mystery novel,” Joe said as he walked toward his car. ”But I'll be there, and I have a feelin' Jim will too! So long!”

”So long,” Alec and Henry called. The stallion raised his head and whinnied as the car rolled down toward the gate.

THE MYSTERY HORSE.

15.

The following night when Alec and Henry drove up to Belmont's main gate, they saw Joe's car parked there. Two men were inside. ”That fellow with him must be Jim Neville,” Alec said hopefully.

Henry brought the truck to a stop and lightly touched the horn. ”Leave your car here,” he called softly to Joe. ”Jump on the truck-we've only a short way to go.”

The two men climbed out of the car and leaped onto the truck's running board. Henry put the truck in gear as he saw Jake swing the gates open. Joe pushed his head in the open window near Henry. ”Made it,” he said. ”Where do we go from here?”

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