Page:Barbour--Peggy in the rain.djvu/43

, who liked Aiken for the attractions it provided for idlers of his kind, put up at the hotel in the village, using the Amesdene stables for his horses. Folly whisked up the drive, between rows of soldierly oleanders, and sidled into the stable yard. Culver, head groom and caretaker, was bandaging the ankles of a two-year-old, who, a daughter of the famous Amesdene Adventuress by the equally famous Amesdene Hero, had been named Ingenue and was booked to carry off some blues in the roadster classes at the winter shows. A stable-boy ran out to take Gordon's mount, and Folly disappeared, shaking her head and jangling her bit, determined to remain in the limelight to the last moment. After a talk about Ingenue and the other horses Gordon asked:

"Culver, do you know a big sorrel gelding with three white feet?"

"’Igh in the shoulders, sir?"

"Yes, quite, a big, rangy brute."

"I fancy it's that 'orse of the Morrills, sir. The Tiger they call him, sir, I think."

"Of course! That's where I saw him. Miss Morrill rode him out to the races last year. I knew I'd seen him somewhere."