The Luya Cup Race, the great event of the day, came after luncheon. Each horse was ridden by its owner, and most of the near stations and of the larger selections on the Luya were represented in the entrances. It was supposed that Frank Hallett would be the winner, on Gipsy Girl, but a good many backed Trant. Elsie wondered whether Blake intended to run Osman, and to ride him. It was not till the last moment that she was certain. Just before the horses came into line he rode out on a beautiful black, which was certainly Osman, only that, equally certain, Osman had no white star on his forehead. She remembered this distinctly. Blake looked very well in his crimson and black colours. He seemed a part of the horse, and the fiery creature answered to his touch as though there were a complete sympathy between them.
The race was an exciting one. Frank Hallett took the lead with Gipsy Girl, but half way round Dominic Trant passed him, Blake followed close. The others were in a bunch, Lord Horace keeping up pretty well, but gradually slackening, and one or two very soon giving up altogether. Again Gipsy Girl got the lead. It was evident that Trant's horse was flagging, and that Blake was holding in. But a quarter of a mile from the winning post, the black shot forward. For a little way he and Gipsy Girl were neck and neck. The pace was tremendous. Both men were bowed almost to the horses' necks. Gipsy Girl's sides were streaming, where Hallett had dug in his spurs. The black was scarcely blown. Close to the post he darted ahead, and Blake came in an easy winner.
There was a great deal of talk about the horse, which Elsie saw had been entered as Osman. As soon as the weighing and examination were over, his cloth was thrown on again, and Sam Shehan led him away from the course.
It was said that he had been stabled the night before in an old shepherd's hut across the river, and that Sam Shehan was so frightened of his being tampered with, that he and the half-castes had sat up all night to watch him.
When Blake came to the enclosure, where the Tunimba
