第75章

Inhereagernesstoknowtheresult，Mrs。GlenarmforgetherjealousyofPerry。

“Howlonghashebeen？“sheasked。

“There’sagoodmanybesidesyouwouldbegladtoknowthat，“

saidPerry。

“Mr。Delamaynwilltellme，yourudeman!“

“Thatdepends，ma’am，onwhether_I_tell_him。_“

Withthisreply，Perryhurriedbacktothecottage。

Notawordpassedwhilethetrainerwasattendingtohisman，andwhilethemanwasrecoveringhisbreath。WhenGeoffreyhadbeencarefullyrubbeddown，andclothedagaininhisordinarygarments，Perrypulledacomfortableeasy-chairoutofacorner。

Geoffreyfellintothechair，ratherthansatdowninit。Perrystarted，andlookedathimattentively。

“Well？“saidGeoffrey。“Howaboutthetime？Long？short？ormiddling？“

“Verygoodtime，“saidPerry。

“Howlong？“

“Whendidyousaytheladywasgoing，Mr。Delamayn？“

“Intwodays。“

“Verywell，Sir。I’lltellyou’howlong’whenthelady’sgone。“

Geoffreymadenoattempttoinsistonanimmediatereply。Hesmiledfaintly。Afteranintervaloflessthantenminuteshestretchedouthislegsandclosedhiseyes。

“Goingtosleep？“saidPerry。

Geoffreyopenedhiseyeswithaneffort。“No，“hesaid。Thewordhadhardlypassedhislipsbeforehiseyesclosedagain。

“Hullo!“saidPerry，watchinghim。“Idon’tlikethat。“

Hewentclosertothechair。Therewasnodoubtaboutit。Themanwasasleep。

Perryemittedalongwhistleunderhisbreath。HestoopedandlaidtwoofhisfingerssoftlyonGeoffrey’spulse。Thebeatwasslow，heavy，andlabored。Itwasunmistakablythepulseofanexhaustedman。

Thetrainerchangedcolor，andtookaturnintheroom。Heopenedacupboard，andproducedfromithisdiaryoftheprecedingyear。

TheentriesrelatingtothelastoccasiononwhichhehadpreparedGeoffreyforafoot-raceincludedthefullestdetails。

Heturnedtothereportofthefirsttrial，atthreehundredyards，fullspeed。Thetimewas，byoneortwoseconds，notsogoodasthetimeonthisoccasion。Buttheresult，afterward，wasutterlydifferent。Thereitwas，inPerry’sownwords：“Pulsegood。Maninhighspirits。Ready，ifIwouldhavelethim，torunitoveragain。“

Perrylookedroundatthesameman，ayearafterward——utterlywornout，andfastasleepinthechair。

Hefetchedpen，ink，andpaperoutofthecupboard，andwrotetwoletters——bothmarked“Private。“Thefirstwastoamedicalman，agreatauthorityamongtrainers。ThesecondwastoPerry’sownagentinLondon，whomheknewhecouldtrust。Theletterpledgedtheagenttothestrictestsecrecy，anddirectedhimtobackGeoffrey’sopponentintheFoot-RaceforasumequaltothesumwhichPerryhadbettedonGeoffreyhimself。“Ifyouhavegotanymoneyofyourownonhim，“theletterconcluded，“doasIdo。

’Hedge’——andholdyourtongue。“

“Anotherof’emgonestale!“saidthetrainer，lookingroundagainatthesleepingman。“He’lllosetherace。“

ANDwhatdidthevisitorssayof