Deaftothisunanswerablereasonfortheabsenceoffriends，Mr。
SpeedwellinsistedonsendingPerryouttosearchamongthepersonswhocomposedthecrowd。Thetrainerreturnedwithhisreport。“Youwereright，Sir。Therearesomeofhisfriendsoutside。Theywanttoseehim。“
“Lettwoorthreeofthemin。“
Threecamein。Theystaredathim。Theyutteredbriefexpressionsofpityinslang。TheysaidtoMr。Speedwell，“Wewantedtoseehim。Whatisit——eh？“
“It’sabreak-downinhishealth。“
“Badtraining？“
“AthleticSports。“
“Oh!Thankyou。Good-evening。“
Mr。Speedwell’sanswerdrovethemoutlikeaflockofsheepbeforeadog。Therewasnoteventimetoputthequestiontothemastowhowastotakehimhome。
“I’lllookafterhim，Sir，“saidPerry。“Youcantrustme。“
“I’llgotoo，“addedthetrainer’sdoctor；“andseehimlittereddownforthenight。“
Theonlytwomenwhohad“hedged“theirbets，byprivatelybackinghisopponent，werealsotheonlytwomenwhovolunteeredtotakehimhome!
Theywentbacktothesofaonwhichhewaslying。Hisbloodshoteyeswererollingheavilyandvacantlyabouthim，onthesearchforsomething。Theyrestedonthedoctor——andlookedawayagain。
TheyturnedtoMr。Speedwell——andstopped，rivetedonhisface。
Thesurgeonbentoverhim，andsaid，“Whatisit？“
Heansweredwithathickaccentandlaboringbreath——utteringawordatatime：“Shall——I——die？“
“Ihopenot。“
“Sure？“
“No。“
Helookedroundhimagain。Thistimehiseyesrestedonthetrainer。Perrycameforward。
“WhatcanIdoforyou，Sir？“
Thereplycameslowlyasbefore。“My——coat——pocket。“
“Thisone，Sir？“
“No。“
“This？“
“Yes。Book。“
Thetrainerfeltinthepocket，andproducedabetting-book。
“What’stobedonewiththis。Sir？“
“Read。“
Thetrainerheldthebookbeforehim；openatthelasttwopagesonwhichentrieshadbeenmade。Herolledhisheadimpatientlyfromsidetosideofthesofapillow。Itwasplainthathewasnotyetsufficientlyrecoveredtobeabletoreadwhathehadwritten。
“ShallIreadforyou，Sir？“
“Yes。“
Thetrainerreadthreeentries，oneafteranother，withoutresult；theyhadallbeenhonestlysettled。Atthefourththeprostratemansaid，“Stop!“Thiswasthefirstoftheentrieswhichstilldependedonafutureevent。ItrecordedthewagerlaidatWindygates，whenGeoffreyhadbackedhimselfindefianceofthesurgeon’sopiniontorowintheUniversityboat-racenextspring——andhadforcedArnoldBrinkworthtobetagainsthim。
“Well，Sir？What’stobedoneaboutthis？“
Hecollectedhisstrengthfortheeffort；andansweredbyawordatatime。
“Write——brother——Julius。Pay——Arnold——wins。“
Hisliftedhand，solemnlyemphasizingwhathesaid，droppedathisside。Heclosedhiseyes；andfellintoaheavystertoroussleep。Givehimhisdue。Scoundrelashewas，givehimhisdue。
Theawfulmoment，whenhislifewastremblinginthebalance，foundhimtruetothelastlivingfaithleftamongthemenofhistribeandtime——thefaithofthebetting-book。
SirPatrickandMr。Speedwellquittedtherace-groundtogether；
Geoffreyhavingbeenpreviouslyremovedtohislodgingshardby。
TheymetArnoldBrinkworthatthegate。Hehad，byhisowndesire，keptoutofviewamongthecrowd；andhedecidedonwalkingbackbyhimself。TheseparationfromBlanchehadchangedhiminallhishabits。Heaskedbuttwofavorsduringtheintervalwhichwastoelapsebeforehesawhiswifeagain——tobeallowedtobearitinhisownway，andtobeleftalone。
Relievedoftheoppressionwhichhadkepthimsilentwhiletheracewasinprogress，SirPatrickputaquestiontothesurgeonastheydrovehome，whichhadbeeninhismindfromthemomentwhenGeoffreyhadlosttheday。
“IhardlyunderstandtheanxietyyoushowedaboutDelamayn，“hesaid，“whenyoufoundthathehadonlyfaintedunderthefatigue。
Wasitsomethingmorethanacommonfaintingfit？“
“Itisuselesstoconcealitnow，“repliedMr。Speedwell。“Hehashadanarrowescapefromaparalyticstroke。“
“WasthatwhatyoudreadedwhenyouspoketohimatWindygates？“
“ThatwaswhatIsawinhisfacewhenIgavehimthewarning。I
wasright，sofar。Iwaswronginmyestimateofthereserveofvitalpowerleftinhim。Whenhedroppedontherace-course，I
firmlybelievedweshouldfindhimadeadman。“
“Isithereditaryparalysis？Hisfather’slastillnesswasofthatsort。“
Mr。Speedwellsmiled。“Hereditaryparalysis？“herepeated。“Whythemanisnaturallyaphenomenonofhealthandstrength——intheprimeofhislife。Hereditaryparalysismighthavefoundhimoutthirtyyearshence。Hisrowingandhisrunning，forthelastfouryears，arealoneanswerableforwhathashappenedto-day。“
SirPatrickventuredonasuggestion。
“Surely，“hesaid，“withyournametocompelattentiontoit，yououghttomakethispublic——asawarningtoothers？“
“Itwouldbequiteuseless。Delamaynisfarfrombeingthefirstmanwhohasdroppedatfoot-racing，underthecruelstresslaidonthevitalorgans。Thepublichaveahappyknackofforgettingtheseaccidents。Theywouldbequitesatisfiedwhentheyfoundtheothermanwhohappenstohavegotthroughitproducedasasufficientanswertome。“
AnneSilvester’sfuturewasstilldwellingonSirPatrick’smind。
HisnextinquiryrelatedtotheserioussubjectofGeoffrey’sprospectofrecoveryinthetimetocome。
“Hewillneverrecover，“saidMr。Speedwell。“Paralysisishangingoverhim。Howlonghemayliveitisimpossibleformetosay。Muchdependsonhimself。Inhiscondition，anynewimprudence，anyviolentemotion，maykillhimatamoment’snotice。“
“Ifnoaccidenthappens，“saidSirPatrick，“willhebesufficientlyhimselfagaintoleavehisbedandgoout？“
“Certainly。“
“HehasanappointmentthatIknowofforSaturdaynext。Isitlikelythathewillbeabletokeepit？“
“Quitelikely。“
SirPatricksaidnomore。Anne’sfacewasbeforehimagainatthememorablemomentwhenhehadtoldherthatshewasGeoffrey’swife。
ITwasSaturday，thethirdofOctober——thedayonwhichtheassertionofArnold’smarriagetoAnneSilvesterwastobeputtotheproof。
Towardtwoo’clockintheafternoonBlancheandherstep-motherenteredthedrawing-roomofLadyLundie’stownhouseinPortlandPlace。
Sincethepreviouseveningtheweatherhadalteredfortheworse。