Cup. Colonel Ross met us by appointment outside the
station, and we drove in his drag to the course beyond
the town. His face was grave, and his manner was cold
in the extreme.

"I have seen nothing of my horse," said he.

"I suppose that you would know him when you saw him?"
asked Holmes.

The Colonel was very angry. "I have been on the turf
for twenty years, and never was asked such a question
as that before," said he. "A child would know Silver
Blaze, with his white forehead and his mottled
off-foreleg."

"How is the betting?"

"Well, that is the curious part of it. You could have
got fifteen to one yesterday, but the price has become
shorter and shorter, until you can hardly get three to
one now."

"Hum!" said Holmes. "Somebody knows something, that
is clear."

As the drag drew up in the enclosure near the grand
stand I glanced at the card to see the entries.

Wessex Plate [it ran] 50 sovs each h ft with 1000 sovs