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。