"Will you take this to Jim Perris for me?"

A gulp, a grin, a nod, he was down from the wagon in a flash and using
his leanness to wriggle snakelike through the crowd.

"Well!" chuckled Corson, not unkindly, "I thought it would be more
Perris than Arizona in the wind-up!"

She reddened, but not because of his words. She was thinking of the
impulsive note in which she asked Red Perris to call at the hotel after
the race and ask for Marianne Jordan. Remembering his song from the
street, she wondered if he, also, would have the grace to blush when
they met.



CHAPTER IV

THE STRENGTH OF THE WEAK

By simply turning about the crowd was in position to watch the race. Of
course it packed dense around the finish on both sides of the lane but
Corson had chosen his position well, the white posts were not more than
a dozen yards above them and they would be able to see the rush of
horses across the line. It was pleasant to Marianne to turn her back on
the scene of the horse-breaking and face her own world which she knew
and loved.

The ponies were coming out to be paraded for admiration and to loosen
their muscles with a few stretching gallops. Each was ridden by his