Cinder Path Tales

AND EVERY ONE A WINNER 171 I force my way throughthe crowd,getting numberless nods and greetings ofa warmer nature, forI am a well-known man in such a gathering. I strike the strong current flow­ ing to andfrom the bar;but alittle patience, and a liberal use of the elbow, bringsme to the boys at last. I give them each ahand, and we exchange a word or two of congratu­ lation. Harry is, I see, a bit sore at his mis­ fortune, for he had been picked as a sure winner. I givehim a word of praise for his gallant effort to make up a three-yard loss at the start. There are many sprinters who would not have tried at all, let alone have pulled off the much-needed point. I tell Harding, with assumed resentment, that he has been sogering all the time, abusingmy confidence by playing the sleeper, andthat he has always been good for the extra ten feet. At this Jim gives one of his basso profundo laughs, and in answer to my question as to what mischief he is plotting, replies that Harry and himselfare waiting for Paddy, who has gone with Tom Furness fora little some­ thing "to kape thenight out," andthat they have promised the Irishmanto help him look up his cousin "Dinny Sullivan, a copper." I find that allthey know about this cousin is that he is a policeman, onduty somewhere